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New to class d

Fjc20

Fjc20

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2020
Messages
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Morning
I’m looking into class d amps as I downsized my stereo to bookshelf speakers and just have a pa audio dac that I kept. Looking for small footprint amps that sound sweet and musical with dynamics. If that makes sense but there is so much class d stuff out there cheap and expensive bel canto look great but not looking to spend that right now. I seen buckeye VTV are there other brands? I see hypex and purifi not sure which to go with or how they sound. And also something about Oamps or something? so one give me a crash course and good sound class d Amps to look at much appreciated.
 
Also would be best if you could tell us where you live and the budget range you are targeting.
 
Grotti said:
You are a member since September 2020: did you miss out all the reviews and discussions about Class D amplification since then? Most of the reviews are a crash course by themselves: have a look around....
Click to expand...
Matias said:
Also would be best if you could tell us where you live and the budget range you are targeting.
Click to expand...
Morning
I live in NY maybe around 500$-1000$ for stereo or monos.

I almost bought the fosi v3 but heard quality isn’t to good.

Wish I could get hands on emotive PA1 but hard to find a pair.
 
Grotti said:
You are a member since September 2020: did you miss out all the reviews and discussions about Class D amplification since then? Most of the reviews are a crash course by themselves: have a look around....
Click to expand...
Evidently I did as to why I am here to have a discussion or some insight.
 
I would order a Buckeye amp if I were you. Worst case if you don't like it you can return them up to 30 days with 10% restocking fee.

NC502MP cheaper.

Buckeye Amps

Buckeye Amps utilizes the most advanced audio amplifier technologies available. Authorized seller for Hypex and Purifi Class D amplifiers. Based in the US. Free shipping and worldwide service!
www.buckeyeamp.com www.buckeyeamp.com

NCx500 great.

Buckeye Amps

Buckeye Amps utilizes the most advanced audio amplifier technologies available. Authorized seller for Hypex and Purifi Class D amplifiers. Based in the US. Free shipping and worldwide service!
www.buckeyeamp.com www.buckeyeamp.com

Or boXem, Apollon, Nord if you are willing to import.
 
Matias said:
I would order a Buckeye amp if I were you. Worst case if you don't like it you can return them up to 30 days with 10% restocking fee.

NC502MP cheaper.

Buckeye Amps

Buckeye Amps utilizes the most advanced audio amplifier technologies available. Authorized seller for Hypex and Purifi Class D amplifiers. Based in the US. Free shipping and worldwide service!
www.buckeyeamp.com www.buckeyeamp.com

NCx500 great.

Buckeye Amps

Buckeye Amps utilizes the most advanced audio amplifier technologies available. Authorized seller for Hypex and Purifi Class D amplifiers. Based in the US. Free shipping and worldwide service!
www.buckeyeamp.com www.buckeyeamp.com

Or boXem, Apollon, Nord if you are willing to import.
Click to expand...
Appreciate your help. I will look into those other brands. Thank you.
 
Fjc20 said:
. Looking for small footprint amps that sound sweet and musical with dynamics.
Click to expand...

An ideal amplifier simply passes on the signal it received, but with gain. No amp is "ideal", but most modern ones have distortions that are below the threshold of human hearing. Therefore, what you hear is the recording .... nothing more and nothing less.
Some speakers present difficult loads to the amp, and this can, under certain conditions, cause the "sound" to change.
This is much more common with tube amps. Fans of tube amps regularly use adjectives like "sweet", "organic" and "musical" to describe their amps. These adjectives simply point to failures of the tube gear to reproduce the signal accurately. They are, in their various forms, distortions.
Although I have heard of solid-state amps that are deliberately engineered to have a "sound", I steer clear of them. To me, they are like taking dirty water, purifying it, then adding in dirt again before drinking it. :facepalm:

The best things you can do are 1) accumulate only recordings or performances of music that you really like. Don't waste time and energy on the dross. 2) Learn to understand speaker designs and how speakers interact with your listening area. This will give you benefits far, far beyond chasing amps that have a sound signature. :)
 
Fjc20 said:
Looking for small footprint amps that sound sweet and musical
Click to expand...
Perhaps clarify sweet and musical? Makes no sense to me talking about an amplifer.


Fjc20 said:
see hypex and purifi not sure which to go with or how they sound.
Click to expand...
No difference driven within their parameters


Fjc20 said:
And also something about Oamps or something?
Click to expand...
Same, you're not going to hear differences in opamps

Maybe read a bit more reviews and some of the technical videos of amirm.
 
We have a Buckeye Amps Hypex NC252MP that we use with Ascend Acoustics Sierra Tower. The same should work great with your bookshelf boxes. Consult with Dylan @Buckeye Amps about what to use with your speakers.

Don't concern yourself with opamps (or any other modifications to the circuit). There's nothing wrong with the ones Buckeye Amps builds with and you can't improve the amp's performance by messing with them.

You said you're seeking dynamics: high performance amps like Hypex provide lots, no fear. You also asked for sweet and musical: these are not something that a high performance amp can add to the program signal. Rest assured that whatever sweetness and music you send to the amp from the DAC will be there at the loudspeaker terminals, so long as the amp is turned on.
 
Fjc20 said:
Morning
I live in NY maybe around 500$-1000$ for stereo or monos.

I almost bought the fosi v3 but heard quality isn’t to good.

Wish I could get hands on emotive PA1 but hard to find a pair.
Click to expand...
From my own experience, I can recommend the Sabaj A30a.
No more DAC required, no OPAmps, no volume potentiometer or anything else. Because it works completely digitally and only outputs the analog signal to the speakers when the output transistors are controlled via PWM.

For me and others, it has now replaced amplifiers that are 10 - 15 times more expensive.
 
Fjc20 said:
Appreciate your help. I will look into those other brands. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Agreed on Buckeye Amps. While their offerings measure differently, I believe Dylan at Buckeye is on record as saying he has difficulty reliably hearing a difference.
 
Multicore said:
We have a Buckeye Amps Hypex NC252MP that we use with Ascend Acoustics Sierra Tower. The same should work great with your bookshelf boxes. Consult with Dylan @Buckeye Amps about what to use with your speakers.

Don't concern yourself with opamps (or any other modifications to the circuit). There's nothing wrong with the ones Buckeye Amps builds with and you can't improve the amp's performance by messing with them.

You said you're seeking dynamics: high performance amps like Hypex provide lots, no fear. You also asked for sweet and musical: these are not something that a high performance amp can add to the program signal. Rest assured that whatever sweetness and music you send to the amp from the DAC will be there at the loudspeaker terminals, so long as the amp is turned on.
Click to expand...
Very well. Thank you. Much help.
 
Hi,
Don't get hung up on amplifier class - all you want is a 'good' amp with the features you want and and in budget.
Realistically, if you want under $1000 and small footprint then you will almost certainly end up with Class D and that's a good choice.

Remember that amplifiers don't have a 'sound' if they are working correctly: all those subjective comments and reviews about 'musicality' are pretty fanciful and should be ignored. I'd suggest that you ignore OpAmps too, I haven't seen anything meaningful to support messing about with these.

Manufacturers like Buckeye are very well regarded here. There are others, but have a look at the Review index. Again, in your budget, some of the TPA3255 type amps (Fosi, Topping etc) make good sense. Purifi is probably too expensive but Hypex is a very good option.

Read a few reviews, be clear about what you need from an amplifier and come back with any specific questions
 
So I found a pair of emotiva PA1 monos class d amps to give them a try 300$ for a pair of monos. We’ll see how they sound. Thank for the help if I like them maybe I’ll move up the latter with class d
 
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