The "new" Class D vs A/B amps

[ahofer]

No

LOL. I was thinking dealers, not manufacturers, but good on you.

 

[Buckeye Amps]

LOL. I was thinking dealers, not manufacturers, but good on you.

There are definitely manufacturers who do the same peddling as dealers.

 

[KL....]

Getting ready to purchase a Buckeye NCx500 2 Ch amp to drive B&W 802's. I have read glowing reviews and Amir has put this on his recommended list above other seriously expensive amps. I was originally considering ATI 6002-2, Anthem STR, Mark Levinson 5302. From reading reviews of the Hypex and Purify amps, it seems that the new class D amps are outperforming the "higher-end" A/B monsters. Is this actually the case? Other (anecdotal) reviews regarding Class D have said that the distortion is low, power is abundant....but mid's and lows lack texture and slam. I have no experience here, lack a golden ear, and am fighting a bias that "heavier, and more expensive" has to be better Please advise.....Would love to spend less if I was not sacrificing performance....

@Mike4700h, in the "new" Class D vs A/B amps thread, a suggestion is that you should also include classB (the Topping B100 is an example of classB), perhaps indicate a list of speakers that you would like the amp to feed then those who reply will/would provide a focused reply for you, and also a list of components that you would like to feed the amp with.... thank you for posting and enjoy the journey :=)

 

[Old_School_Brad]

@Mike4700h, in the "new" Class D vs A/B amps thread, a suggestion is that you should also include classB (the Topping B100 is an example of classB),

A Topping B100 for B&W 802?

 

[gwing]

I choose to take this post personally because I literally just ranted about how much I hate the whole "synergy" notion in the context of audio, just a few posts above.

Jokes aside:

The textbook definition of synergy is pretty much "two or more components interacting to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of its parts".

And as such, it's utter nonsense in the audio world. Components do not need to be "synergistic"; all they need to do is their job, and do it well. If they do, then the whole system will work just nicely. There's even standards for ensuring that, for example output and input impedances of preamps and poweramps, to ensure any combination of devices works fine. In case of power amp - speaker interaction, with the most "wildcard" component being the speaker with its complex load, there has been a decades old trend to simply make the amp as stable and load independent as possible, to fix that problem. And it works. Both beefy AB and class D amps that simply do not care about the speakers' behaviour - within reason - have been available for a very long time, for affordable moneys.

"Synergy" frankly is a bullshit word and meaningless in this context, and I really wish people would stop using it. Talk about competent devices instead, that makes a lot more sense.

Well, yes, sure, if all components were competent and all interfaces fully defined and standards fully complied with could just mix and match components rather than having 'magic synergistic components' that worked exceptionally well with each other. Even if we did end up with an in-room response that wasn't entirely desirable we might correct that better with room treatment or eq rather than relying on switching cables or other synergistic pairings.

Yet, in just the last few days , I have read in this forum about amplifiers not able to deliver their rated output because of gain structure in the audio chain or the Ayima A08 DC control feature for some reason not being compatible with Wiim devices or indeed the newer Wiim devices not being able to work with Apple devices. That's not 'synergy' in the old audiophile sense but it's much the same thing - maybe it would sit more easily if I called it 'compatibility' rather than 'synergy'?

 

[Julf]

Maybe it would sit more easily if I called it 'compatibility' rather than 'synergy'?

Yes, because compatibility is something that can be objectively defined.

 

[antcollinet]

maybe it would sit more easily if I called it 'compatibility' rather than 'synergy'?

Yes, it would.

 

[mhardy6647]

No

Concur with the answer, although my rationale might differ from yours
I think products that sound right from fresh out of the box(es) are the way to go.