[mattlach]

Does anyone believe this article has any merit?

I - for one - would love Jason Stoddard's take on it.

 

[castleofargh]

whatever works is fine isn't it?
now the article insists a all lot about keeping the signal digital as long as possible. it feels like a logical future, but most actual implementations don't do that at all. be it class D amps alone or the ones in powered speakers, they're still sold as amplifiers and input analog signal.

 

[mattlach]

  whatever works is fine isn't it?
now the article insists a all lot about keeping the signal digital as long as possible. it feels like a logical future, but most actual implementations don't do that at all. be it class D amps alone or the ones in powered speakers, they're still sold as amplifiers and input analog signal.

 
Oh, I agree.
 
As long as something sounds good, I don't care what underlying technology it is based on.
 
That being said, living in a state with one of the highest electric rates in the country, I wouldn't mind if my amp used less power and ran cooler.
 
At the same time I almost feel as if something were lost going to a MOSFET design.   Analogue audio electrical engineering can be a little bit of an art, where as the digital stuff is more and more commoditized.
 
I can't help but wonder how it will impact the market as it stands today though.   Are players at risk of missing the "new better class D" shift and falling behind?
 
Also, I did read the article again, and it does kind of read a little bit like a paid marketing piece.  That, and because I know how (at least some) audio engineers feel about class D from reading Jason Stoddards Schiit book has me a bit skeptical about the articles conclusions.
 
In a world were so many of us still run on "technically obsolete" tube designs because we prefer their sounds, I find it hard to believe that the demand for Class A or class A/B amps is going to vanish any time soon. Maybe in the low end it will, but the low end already isn't really using Class A or A/B designs anyway.  In the high end - however - it will still probably be in the real of subjective preference, and many will still continue to demand tube and class A solid state designs.
 
Still, if I were in the market for a high end expensive Class A amp (which I am not), maybe - just maybe - I'd wait a moment and see how this pans out before investing.

 

[Wiljen]

If the goal of any amp is to be a "wire with gain", then the use of Gallium Nitride transistors makes perfect sense.   It directly addresses the shortcomings of mosfet designs and should make it possible to come much closer to a truly transparent amplifier design.   GaN may well displace silicon altogether in the next few years as it is now cheaper to manufacture and offers better performance.  At <600V Gallium will probably take over most of the market and at higher voltages I'd expect to see SiC technology take most of the market share over the next decade.  I'm not sure of the use of SiC technology in Audio as most of us don't run 1800 Volt gear.  Maybe they find uses for it we haven't even thought of yet. 

 

[silversurfer6]

We are many many years away I think but things are getting better. I have experience with Classe's Sigma series and they have proved to me that Class D can sound excellent. But even though they have done the bold step with the sigma being Class D their new top series Delta will be A/B

 

[silversurfer6]

Personally I love Class D in terms from an installation perspective. Not much heat, small size and not heavy really makes sense for any sensible audiophile.

 

[watchnerd]

Does anyone believe this article has any merit?

I - for one - would love @Jason Stoddard's take on it.

 
Yes, but I also believe that separate amps are on the decline.
 
We're moving closer to active speakers becoming the new norm. KEF, ELAC, Dynaudio, etc, all have growing active lines.

 

[Wiljen]

Yes, but I also believe that separate amps are on the decline.

We're moving closer to active speakers becoming the new norm. KEF, ELAC, Dynaudio, etc, all have growing active lines.

Whether the amp is a discrete component or is built into either a receiver or a speaker, it is still an amplifier from a technical perspective and still likely to follow the advances in technology. This is especially so when those advances make cheaper and smaller amps possible like GaN and SiC technologies do.

 

[watchnerd]

Whether the amp is a discrete component or is built into either a receiver or a speaker, it is still an amplifier from a technical perspective and still likely to follow the advances in technology. This is especially so when those advances make cheaper and smaller amps possible like GaN and SiC technologies do.

 
I'm not missing the point at all.
 
Cheaper and smaller amps via Class D + GaN is exactly one of the reasons why (plus streaming audio) active speakers will be on the rise.

 

[Wiljen]

I wonder when a GaN LM1875 or LM3886 will be available.  I can also see the CMoy and the Millett SS getting a redesign around the more efficient chips when GaN versions become readily available.

 

[watchnerd]

  I wonder when a GaN LM1875 or LM3886 will be available.  I can also see the CMoy and the Millett SS getting a redesign around the more efficient chips when GaN versions become readily available.

 
I think you're going to have to wait a while, as GaN will probably debut first in more expensive components.

 

[Wiljen]

   
I think you're going to have to wait a while, as GaN will probably debut first in more expensive components.

 
No doubt, just looking down the road and wonder where all it will lead.

 

[GuyUnder]

It's a well established fact that Class-D is junk. More accurately Class-D can sound good only in spite of being Class-D. Besides the super big $ products based on ICEPower and Hypex modules, THX developed an ultra-low noise Class-D circuit used in the Benchmark AHB2 -- that made Stereophile category A component for $3,000!

 

[spruce music]

It's a well established fact that Class-D is junk.

Care to provide the evidence for this "fact"?

 

[watchnerd]

It's a well established fact that Class-D is junk. More accurately Class-D can sound good only in spite of being Class-D. Besides the super big $ products based on ICEPower and Hypex modules, THX developed an ultra-low noise Class-D circuit used in the Benchmark AHB2 -- that made Stereophile category A component for $3,000!

 
I can't parse this post.  Class D is junk, except when it's Stereophile Class A, then it isn't?