Has anyone had experience listening to any of the Class D amps that are showing up. I have seen some that got pretty good review from folks I respect. And I have been surprised by the sound quality of at least one module. I would love to hear what reactions others have to them.
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Originally posted by BillH View PostHas anyone had experience listening to any of the Class D amps that are showing up. I have seen some that got pretty good review from folks I respect. And I have been surprised by the sound quality of at least one module. I would love to hear what reactions others have to them.
Only at shows and my reaction has run from awful to lukewarm to interesting. But the Class D amps all seem to have the same characteristics. Flat, kind of unfocussed and loss of information.Myles B. Astor, PhD, Administrator
Senior Editor, Positive-Feedback.com
________________________________________
-Magico S5 Mk.2 speakers with SPod feet
-Goldmund Telos 280 stereo amp
-Goldmund Mimesis 37S Nextgen preamplifier
-Doshi V3.0 phonostage
-VPI Vanquish direct-drive turntable
-VPI 12-inch 3D Fat Boy dual pivot tonearm, VPI 12-inch 3D Fat Boy gimballed and SAT LM-12 arm
-Lyra Atlas SL Lambda, Fuuga, vdh Colibri Master Signature, MutechHayabusa, MOFI Master Tracker, Sumiko Songbird cartridges
-Technics RS1506 with Flux Magnetic heads, Doshi V3.0 tape stage (balanced)
-Assorted cables including Transparent XL Gen. 5, Skogrand, Viero, Kubala-Sosna, Audience Au24SX, Genesis Advanced Technologies and Ensemble Power Cords
-Accessories including Stillpoint Aperture panels, Cathedral Sound panels, Furutech NCF Nano AC receptacles; Silver Circle Tchaik 6 PLC, Symposium ISIS and SRA Craz racks, Audiodharma Cable Cooker, Symposium Ultra and assorted SRA platforms.
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Has anyone had a chance to hear the Mola Mola?Myles B. Astor, PhD, Administrator
Senior Editor, Positive-Feedback.com
________________________________________
-Magico S5 Mk.2 speakers with SPod feet
-Goldmund Telos 280 stereo amp
-Goldmund Mimesis 37S Nextgen preamplifier
-Doshi V3.0 phonostage
-VPI Vanquish direct-drive turntable
-VPI 12-inch 3D Fat Boy dual pivot tonearm, VPI 12-inch 3D Fat Boy gimballed and SAT LM-12 arm
-Lyra Atlas SL Lambda, Fuuga, vdh Colibri Master Signature, MutechHayabusa, MOFI Master Tracker, Sumiko Songbird cartridges
-Technics RS1506 with Flux Magnetic heads, Doshi V3.0 tape stage (balanced)
-Assorted cables including Transparent XL Gen. 5, Skogrand, Viero, Kubala-Sosna, Audience Au24SX, Genesis Advanced Technologies and Ensemble Power Cords
-Accessories including Stillpoint Aperture panels, Cathedral Sound panels, Furutech NCF Nano AC receptacles; Silver Circle Tchaik 6 PLC, Symposium ISIS and SRA Craz racks, Audiodharma Cable Cooker, Symposium Ultra and assorted SRA platforms.
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Have not heard the Mola Mola unless they were at RMAF in which case they sounded quite good. I have always liked Rowland but his new all in one amp at RMAF sounded very dark to me. I heard an Audio Research class D amp at a show a few years ago that sounded fairly good. I never heard it again and I don't know if they pursued it. In general I have found them lifeless but like Myles I have only heard them at shows. But I sure would love to own an amp that weighs only 10 lbs and can fit into a shoe box!TW Acustic TT with Ref motor & controller; Tri-Planar Arm; Ortofon Windfeld-Ti Cartridge, Harmonix-Combak platter matte & weight; Arcam R Phono Preamp; KLAudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner.
Bluesound Vault-2 Music Server & Streamer
VTL 6.5 preamp Series II
Pass Labs 150.8 Amp
Piega C711 Loudspeakers
Symposium Osiris Rack; Symposium Platforms and Roller Blocks plus grade 2.5 Balls
Acoustic Revive RR-888 Low Frequency Pulse Generator
Shunyata Hydra 8; Shunyata AC Cords; Synergistic Research Level 3 HC AC Cord and Level 3 power cord, Synergistic Carbon fiber wall plates & Blue Outlets, Furutech NCF Booster Brace, Audio Art Ref balanced ICs, MIT Oracle IC and Magnum Speaker Cables
Sennheiser HDV 650 Headphone Amp; Sennheiser HD800s Headphones.
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^raises hand^
I heard them in Tokyo with Lansche speakers. Not your grandpa's class D top end. Very very good in fact. Not sure if it was the Molas or the Ion tweeters but the Molas surely weren't doing any harm. Too bad the rest of the sound wasn't in the same ballpark as the highs. The transition from great highs to ordinary everything else was rather disconcerting. My bet was it was a speaker and not electronics problem.
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Originally posted by MylesBAstor View PostHas anyone had a chance to hear the Mola Mola?Simon Yorke + MSL > B.M.C .> Valvet > Linear Tube Audio > Avantgarde
"Listening to Analogue music is an act of rebellion in a digital gulag" - Simon Yorke
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Originally posted by BillH View PostI love your screen name: "1more record 2 clean"
MarkTW Acustic TT with Ref motor & controller; Tri-Planar Arm; Ortofon Windfeld-Ti Cartridge, Harmonix-Combak platter matte & weight; Arcam R Phono Preamp; KLAudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner.
Bluesound Vault-2 Music Server & Streamer
VTL 6.5 preamp Series II
Pass Labs 150.8 Amp
Piega C711 Loudspeakers
Symposium Osiris Rack; Symposium Platforms and Roller Blocks plus grade 2.5 Balls
Acoustic Revive RR-888 Low Frequency Pulse Generator
Shunyata Hydra 8; Shunyata AC Cords; Synergistic Research Level 3 HC AC Cord and Level 3 power cord, Synergistic Carbon fiber wall plates & Blue Outlets, Furutech NCF Booster Brace, Audio Art Ref balanced ICs, MIT Oracle IC and Magnum Speaker Cables
Sennheiser HDV 650 Headphone Amp; Sennheiser HD800s Headphones.
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Originally posted by Rob View Post
I've heard them on Giya G3s and thought they were great. Didnt you give them a thumbs up at the NY show also on Giyas (?)
Yes I did in an oasis of sound.Myles B. Astor, PhD, Administrator
Senior Editor, Positive-Feedback.com
________________________________________
-Magico S5 Mk.2 speakers with SPod feet
-Goldmund Telos 280 stereo amp
-Goldmund Mimesis 37S Nextgen preamplifier
-Doshi V3.0 phonostage
-VPI Vanquish direct-drive turntable
-VPI 12-inch 3D Fat Boy dual pivot tonearm, VPI 12-inch 3D Fat Boy gimballed and SAT LM-12 arm
-Lyra Atlas SL Lambda, Fuuga, vdh Colibri Master Signature, MutechHayabusa, MOFI Master Tracker, Sumiko Songbird cartridges
-Technics RS1506 with Flux Magnetic heads, Doshi V3.0 tape stage (balanced)
-Assorted cables including Transparent XL Gen. 5, Skogrand, Viero, Kubala-Sosna, Audience Au24SX, Genesis Advanced Technologies and Ensemble Power Cords
-Accessories including Stillpoint Aperture panels, Cathedral Sound panels, Furutech NCF Nano AC receptacles; Silver Circle Tchaik 6 PLC, Symposium ISIS and SRA Craz racks, Audiodharma Cable Cooker, Symposium Ultra and assorted SRA platforms.
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In the next few weeks I should be getting a pair of Nord One UP NC500MB NC500 Mono Amps loaned from a friend to demo. If they are as expected, I'll be ordering a pair for myself with a couple different input buffer opamp choices. This will allow me to do some opamp-rolling.
Last edited by MikeCh; 04-02-2016, 11:23 AM.Mike
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Originally posted by BillH View PostHas anyone had experience listening to any of the Class D amps that are showing up. I have seen some that got pretty good review from folks I respect. And I have been surprised by the sound quality of at least one module. I would love to hear what reactions others have to them.
I did listen to some class D amps a few years back in my own system. I had some Hypex amps and some Nuforce amps. At first listen they had very good bass but after longer term listening, highs could be a bit unpleasant and soundstage wasn't great. One theory that I had was that Class D amps can put a lot of noise back into the power grid and that noise can adversely affect one's other gear. I found that the Nuforce amps sounded much better when I took rather extreme power conditioning measures, which seemed to validate my hypothesis. When used with beefy isolation transformers which were then fed into an Audience power conditioner, sound quality improved quite a bit.
---GaryAnalog: Scheu + Immedia RPM tonearm + Koetsu Black + Pass Xono or Threshold FET 10pe
Amps: First Watt F7, HK Citation II
Pre-Amps: CJ Premier 14, Threshold FET 10e, DIY 417a with output transformer
Speakers: Horning Eufrodite, Reference 3A mm de capo
Tuners: Sansui TU9900, McIntosh MR78
Digital: i7 Server (Roon) + SSD, Sonore urendu + Mutec MC3+ USB + Berkeley Alpha Dac, Audiomeca Mephisto
Power: Audience AR12, Torus Tot, DIY filters
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I've only heard Class D amps at shows but outside of the Rowlands, these amplifier just aren't involving and seem too squeaky clean to me.Myles B. Astor, PhD, Administrator
Senior Editor, Positive-Feedback.com
________________________________________
-Magico S5 Mk.2 speakers with SPod feet
-Goldmund Telos 280 stereo amp
-Goldmund Mimesis 37S Nextgen preamplifier
-Doshi V3.0 phonostage
-VPI Vanquish direct-drive turntable
-VPI 12-inch 3D Fat Boy dual pivot tonearm, VPI 12-inch 3D Fat Boy gimballed and SAT LM-12 arm
-Lyra Atlas SL Lambda, Fuuga, vdh Colibri Master Signature, MutechHayabusa, MOFI Master Tracker, Sumiko Songbird cartridges
-Technics RS1506 with Flux Magnetic heads, Doshi V3.0 tape stage (balanced)
-Assorted cables including Transparent XL Gen. 5, Skogrand, Viero, Kubala-Sosna, Audience Au24SX, Genesis Advanced Technologies and Ensemble Power Cords
-Accessories including Stillpoint Aperture panels, Cathedral Sound panels, Furutech NCF Nano AC receptacles; Silver Circle Tchaik 6 PLC, Symposium ISIS and SRA Craz racks, Audiodharma Cable Cooker, Symposium Ultra and assorted SRA platforms.
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