Let's stop calling Class D amplifiers "efficient" when they are not.

[Head_Unit]

Well it is about time for me to adopt ANC. Got a plane flight coming up soon too.

Hard to beat (Beats? ha ha) Apple's AirPods Pro 2, they're quite effective. A friend who has tested them all-he loves toys-said some others might sound a bit better but the ANC not quite as good. Over the ear, that Sony whatever model is damn amazing, I literally could not hear the salesperson talking next to me!

Note that in low priced stuff the "ANC" is only for the microphone, it does not reduce ambient noise. I tried various buds and eventually gave up and went Apple.

 

[ElJaimito]

So in your 8 years as a member here, you haven't read or learned anything? Maybe start with this thread.

So, are Class A power amplifiers actually any good?

As per the title, despite their inefficient design, heat output, cost and weight, class A power amplifiers are often upheld as a kind of 'gold standard' on many forums with out objective justification. I note that very few, (I can't recall one), have been tested on this very illustrious site...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I have over 70 years listening experience, have designed and built quite a lot of equipment in the professional arena, and in my experience to date quality of design and implementation is the primary differentiator of audio amplifiers. To the extent that, given adequate design and implementation, it is impossible to differentiate between high quality amplifiers in a true blind test within their power ratings. It is a lasting source of regret that the letter "A" was chosen for the first of the series of descriptions of output device conduction angle. If they had started with "Z" things might now be different. I sit here surrounded by 2000W of Class D (and some 500W AB) audio power devices in my little studio, while most of the heat comes from Class A microphone and line amplifiers and valve/tube-based equalisers. I doubly emphasise the requirement for competent design and implementation, having suffered Clive SInclair's early attempts at Class D back in the '60s (and his class AB, come to that). And I say this having owned examples of many of the best valve/tube amps in my various studios, all of which I refurbished and sold at a good profit to other suckers enthusiasts once better options were available to me But I say again, they all sounded just as good as each other, but 15/25W with modern (non-horn) exclosures and driver efficiencies just doesn't cut it.