I had to buy a new hi fi amplifier last year since my old Sony amp died, it had a good innings though and lasted me 25 years. With an output of 45 watts per channel it was a big heavy beast like pretty much all old hi-fi amps.
For my new amp, I could not afford a top of the range model so settled for a tangent ampster BT. It was recommended by what Hi Fi and I had read some good reviews so I decided to buy it. It advertises 50 watts per channel, but you could fit four of them into the case of my old amp. I thought ok maybe they use a switching power supply, but what about the amp itself. Well, I did some research and as some of you have probably already guessed it was of class D design.
Now, I am very impressed with the sound of the amp, and it looks well made, but I have always thought of class D amplifiers being of inferior quality with their use reserved to things like PA systems where you need a lot of power, but sound quality is not too important. After some further research I discovered that with the exception of really hgh end equipment most audio amps are of class D design today.
Is it now possible to make a class D amp with a sound quality that is close to that of a class A or AB design, or are manufacturers sacrificing quality in order to make their amps smaller, lighter and more efficient?
For my new amp, I could not afford a top of the range model so settled for a tangent ampster BT. It was recommended by what Hi Fi and I had read some good reviews so I decided to buy it. It advertises 50 watts per channel, but you could fit four of them into the case of my old amp. I thought ok maybe they use a switching power supply, but what about the amp itself. Well, I did some research and as some of you have probably already guessed it was of class D design.
Now, I am very impressed with the sound of the amp, and it looks well made, but I have always thought of class D amplifiers being of inferior quality with their use reserved to things like PA systems where you need a lot of power, but sound quality is not too important. After some further research I discovered that with the exception of really hgh end equipment most audio amps are of class D design today.
Is it now possible to make a class D amp with a sound quality that is close to that of a class A or AB design, or are manufacturers sacrificing quality in order to make their amps smaller, lighter and more efficient?