3 ms·

A pair of bookshelf speakers and a cheap class d amplifier would make for a much nicer listening experience.

by donatj 3y ago

JKCalhoun 3y ago
At the risk of sounding like a snobbish audiophile, I have found class-D give me listening fatigue. I wasn't consciously aware of it until, after listening to the class-D for six months, one day I substituted a small tube amp I had built. Never going back to digital amplification for relaxing listening to music.
- ghostpepper 3y ago
  This is a tall claim to make with a single point of data. ie. "I found a class A that sounds better than my class D therefore the topology must be better".
  - JKCalhoun 3y ago
    That's true. FWIW, I believe the amp used the fabled TA2022 chip that had all the audiophiles in an uproar for its quality relative to its price. I assumed though, correctly or incorrectly, that it was the topology of that gave me listening fatigue and not the specific chip set. I would ask you to try for yourself though.
    - analog31 3y ago
      An amusing coincidence, and not to contradict your experience, but the first review in the first "hit" when I googled TA2022 described it as less fatiguing than a conventional amplifier: >>> The best way I can describe the Topping compared to the NAD is that the sound is richer and "warmer" (I realize this may sound strange). Listening to music through the NAD for a while got tiremsome or fatiguing. I don't get this with the Topping. https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RS7NZ301THAJP/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewpnt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B005VR0PQQ#RS7NZ301THAJP https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RS7NZ301THAJP/ref...
      - JKCalhoun 3y ago
        Ha ha, well a NAD is solid state I believe, not tubes.
bob1029 3y ago
Class D is entirely the wrong topology for mid/high range frequency reproduction. I know you can make it work, but there are other topologies that are essentially guaranteed to provide a higher quality experience and the efficiency sacrifice isn't a huge deal when you are working in this frequency range. For LFE playback (I.e. subwoofers), absolutely. Use it aggressively. I prefer class G/H topology for my LFE though. I run class AB for my mids & highs.
analog31 3y ago
I've done the same. The specs of even the cheapest switchmode power amp IC's are excellent, and most of the cheap boards just copy the IC manufacturer's reference circuit. Conveniently, the one I got can switch between a line input and Bluetooth, which improves the convenience factor even if Bluetooth might be of questionable audio quality. But with the line input, it's straight from DAC to the power amp. So far there are 3 of these setups in my house.

A pair of bookshelf speakers and a cheap class d amplifier would make for a much nicer listening experience.

by donatj 3y ago

A pair of bookshelf speakers and a cheap class d amplifier would make for a much nicer listening experience.

At the risk of sounding like a snobbish audiophile, I have found class-D give me listening fatigue. I wasn't consciously aware of it until, after listening to the class-D for six months, one day I substituted a small tube amp I had built. Never going back to digital amplification for relaxing listening to music.

ghostpepper 3y ago
This is a tall claim to make with a single point of data. ie. "I found a class A that sounds better than my class D therefore the topology must be better".
- JKCalhoun 3y ago
  That's true. FWIW, I believe the amp used the fabled TA2022 chip that had all the audiophiles in an uproar for its quality relative to its price. I assumed though, correctly or incorrectly, that it was the topology of that gave me listening fatigue and not the specific chip set. I would ask you to try for yourself though.
  - analog31 3y ago
    An amusing coincidence, and not to contradict your experience, but the first review in the first "hit" when I googled TA2022 described it as less fatiguing than a conventional amplifier: >>> The best way I can describe the Topping compared to the NAD is that the sound is richer and "warmer" (I realize this may sound strange). Listening to music through the NAD for a while got tiremsome or fatiguing. I don't get this with the Topping. https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RS7NZ301THAJP/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewpnt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B005VR0PQQ#RS7NZ301THAJP https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RS7NZ301THAJP/ref...
    - JKCalhoun 3y ago
      Ha ha, well a NAD is solid state I believe, not tubes.

bob1029 3y ago

Class D is entirely the wrong topology for mid/high range frequency reproduction. I know you can make it work, but there are other topologies that are essentially guaranteed to provide a higher quality experience and the efficiency sacrifice isn't a huge deal when you are working in this frequency range. For LFE playback (I.e. subwoofers), absolutely. Use it aggressively. I prefer class G/H topology for my LFE though. I run class AB for my mids & highs.

analog31 3y ago

I've done the same. The specs of even the cheapest switchmode power amp IC's are excellent, and most of the cheap boards just copy the IC manufacturer's reference circuit. Conveniently, the one I got can switch between a line input and Bluetooth, which improves the convenience factor even if Bluetooth might be of questionable audio quality. But with the line input, it's straight from DAC to the power amp. So far there are 3 of these setups in my house.