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best class d amp


markyboy156

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There are benefits to class D, namely high efficiency, which also means less heat generation when pushed hard (although they tend to idle hotter than a standard ab amp). They can be built to produce huge amounts of continuous power, but peak is not usually much higher, vs ab amps which can usually double their peak output!

The best designed, best sounding class D amps rival the sound quality of a standard class a/b amplifier design, but less $ means less quality sound, and most cheaper units aren't built to produce the huge amount of power that makes class D really worth while.

 

The only reason I would think you would "need" class D is either the need to keep AC draw to a minimum, an amp that can run with little venting, or if you need larger scale power (like 1200+ watts rms) without carrying around a couple hundred pounds of heat sink, transformer, and caps inside its huge chassis! (Hardly a need for that in home theater!)

Otherwise don't waste your time needing to find a class D powered system!

Edited by Ashayinfla
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Extremely low distortion figures, a completely black floor, extremely high dampening factor, ability to leave on indefinitely (they don't draw more juice at idle 😵), extremely low heat generation, clean/clinical sound characteristics...

 

There are many reasons to choose a class d amplifier.

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On ‎6‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 1:39 PM, willland said:

Why is Class D a must?

 

 

7 hours ago, Schu said:

Extremely low distortion figures, a completely black floor, extremely high dampening factor, ability to leave on indefinitely (they don't draw more juice at idle 😵), extremely low heat generation, clean/clinical sound characteristics...

 

There are many reasons to choose a class d amplifier. 

I get that but you can get most of that from a quality AB also, except the efficiency thing of course.  As far as AVRs and heat, most of that said heat comes from the A/V processor not the onboard amps.

 

Bill

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Guest wdecho

Class D, wave of the future in typical consumer amplification. With some DIY ability (not much more than hooking up speakers) price. Price is another reason for consumer amplification as well for the manufacturer, most use the cheaper switching PS vs a linear PS.

 

 Class A is still Class A for serious audiophiles that can hear the difference even for the negatives of being big, heavy, expensive, heaters. Limited power as well unless you have deep pockets and can afford the extra expensive of serious air conditioning for the room when you get over 25 watts. I expect class A/B to be on the way out for future use in amplification now that class D has obtained audiophile status.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/7/2018 at 11:11 PM, Schu said:

Extremely low distortion figures, a completely black floor, extremely high dampening factor, ability to leave on indefinitely (they don't draw more juice at idle 😵), extremely low heat generation, clean/clinical sound characteristics...

 

There are many reasons to choose a class d amplifier.

 Almost all of these details are not very accurate!

 

Distortion figures: class D amps are about as clean as any other amp when not driven into clipping. Digital class amplifiers can run out of power too, and they will distort the input signal as well.

 

 Completely black floor: the amplifier may not add to the noise floor itself (any quality amp will have a very low noise floor figure) but noise floor doesn't come only from an amplifier, it is from bad gain structuring between components- if there's anything boosted uphill of the amp, that will raise your noise floor of your signal, and the amplifier will boost this noise floor so it becomes noticeable in your speakers.

 

Extremely high damping factor:  maybe, maybe not: damping factor is completely dependent on the design of the amplifiers output coupling circuitry, and while some amplifiers are designed with to have damping factors, other designs do not address low damping factor as a design feature and they can mid the mall completely! regardless of if it's class d or not.

 

Idle current:  class d amplifiers are super efficient amplifier designs, and can produce massive amounts of output power utilizing almost everything that's put into them (very little wasted into heat) but a class d amp sitting at idle is a different story: they do idle low, but not as low as you would want/hope for! They do consume power while idling, and actually they will warm up their heat sinks while idling! That heat comes from input power and is wasted! This makes them less efficient at very low volume or sporadic use (amplification) and sitting idle the rest of the day!

 

Clean/clinical sound generation: when they first came out, class d amplifiers were looked down upon because you could hear them- they did not sound smooth and almost had a "grainy" sound to them! Newer designs have corrected this and made them less grainy, to the point that the graininess is inaudible. Everybody claims that this amplifier is warm, that amplifier sounds different: there's some truth to each amplifier having a sound character different from each other, but the ideal amplifier just makes the signal bigger, not changing it. Any characteristic that can be heard in any amplifier is very subtle and not noticeable at all until a comparison is made using critical listening, and that puts any class a or ab amplifier into the just as "clean" category as a class D- class d actually works like a switching power supply, breaking the waveform into tiny blocks and boosting then each as necessary- by design, this would be less "clinical" than a standard class a or ab which uses standard transistors you amplify the entire waveform as a whole!

 

And by the way analog distortion is much cleaner sounding than digital distortion!!!

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