who has moved from a class a/b amplifier to CLass D digital ?

[HiFiJeff]

ill be interested in seeing what you think of that Nuforce a/b amp compared to the Volt+ . I almost bought the volt until I ran across a deal on a wyred4sound class D using ice chips.

what made you decide on that Nuforce? I have had a nice nuforce Preamp but it was older.

I am interested myself. Never really looked into the Wyred4sound. The Volt+ is special.

I have been looking at the STA-200 since it came out and priced at $1299. At $499, it seemed like a no brainer.
All of the favorable reviews on it and the amp it is based on , The Job225 by Goldmund. A little more headroom and power. Based upon the guys at ZU, they told me that the ZU's I own would welcome more power and headroom and would respond very well to it. I have come close to maxing out the volume on my pre with the Volt+. I always want a little headroom. And last but not least, you know this hobby, we can't leave well enough alone and are always tweaking or upgrading something. My mind keeps telling me that an originally priced $1299 amp rated at 80watts per channel has to be better than a $69 amp rated at 30watts per channel. Like I said, it's a true David and Goliath battle. I am curious to see what the outcome is. Worst thing that will happen is I won't be impressed and will just send it back.

 

[HiFiJeff]

Switching?
From what I can tell, you've simply ordered another amp without hearing it first.

Ummmmm.... No sheet. I didn't realize that but thanks for noticing. That's the point. MOST of us on this forum order audio equipment before ever hearing it first. And on that note, until you listen to something in your own home on your own system, you aren't going to know how a specific piece of audio equipment sounds. Once again, most of us are ordering from internet direct based companies and have absolutely no way of hearing it first. So your comment makes no sense. My local Best Buy or HI-FI shop doesn't carry NuForce or ZU Audio. I also ordered a pair of ZU Audio Dirty Weekends without hearing them first, was that a mistake? That's why these companies give you an in home trial and the opportunity to send something back. I didn't just on a whim, say I want a new Class A/B amp and make a list of 50 Class A/B amps, close my eyes and pick one, I have done research after research about the amp and after having conversations with multiple people that have owned or heard an STA-200, decided to hear one for myself.

 

[HiFiJeff]

The Nuforce outputs 4x the watts of the Volt+.
To my mind very possibly a case of "apples to oranges".

That's the entire point of this thread. "Who has moved from a class a/b amplifier to Class D digital?"

The thread is completely about apples to oranges comparisons, hints the thread topic.

The thread topic isn't "Who has moved from one Class D amp to another Class D amp."

 

[HiFiJeff]

Switching?
From what I can tell, you've simply ordered another amp without hearing it first.

The Nuforce outputs 4x the watts of the Volt+.

Speaking as someone who has moth-balled a couple of fairly well respected vintage A/B amps in favor of Class D, I did so because I've yet to hear an A/B amp with dynamics that begin to compare with the more powerful brethren of TPA 3116/8

Once again, another statement that makes no sense. You just stated that the NuForce has 4x the watts of the Volt but just said that you can't find a Class D amp that is more powerful than the TPA brethren. I am a little confused.

So Class A/B amps aren't as powerful as Class D? And they don't have the dynamics of Class D?!?!?! Well I guess I will get to find that out myself this weekend. But I would beg to differ. I am sure there are Class A/B amps out there that would smoke some of the Class D stuff and vice versa.

I am not bashing Class D at all, in fact, I feel just the opposite. I LOVE Class D amps. I own three two channel Class D amps and my Pioneer AVR uses Class D amps. I like them a lot! My Volt+ is one of the best sounding amps I have heard in my system. But it's been a VERY long time since I have owned a Class A/B amp and wanted to give it a whirl, see if I can find some differences.

 

[RobRoy]

Im not refering to the crown XLS drivecore Class D pro amps. I think everyone has tried them as they were such a good $ to watt at one point. I am talking about the Ice chip amps or the other classD amps that have sprung up recent years that were made for home use.

I have to ask, why that caveat? I ask because I have three of those amps, originally purchased for PA and my Bass rig, all at different power levels, and I'm considering bringing them into my home hi-fi setup with the bass shelving on. Are they considered better (or worse) than the other class D offerings?

 

[gentlejax]

Once again, another statement that makes no sense. You just stated that the NuForce has 4x the watts of the Volt but just said that you can't find a Class D amp that is more powerful than the TPA brethren. I am a little confused.

So Class A/B amps aren't as powerful as Class D? And they don't have the dynamics of Class D?!?!?! Well I guess I will get to find that out myself this weekend. But I would beg to differ. I am sure there are Class A/B amps out there that would smoke some of the Class D stuff and vice versa.

I am not bashing Class D at all, in fact, I feel just the opposite. I LOVE Class D amps. I own three two channel Class D amps and my Pioneer AVR uses Class D amps. I like them a lot! My Volt+ is one of the best sounding amps I have heard in my system. But it's been a VERY long time since I have owned a Class A/B amp and wanted to give it a whirl, see if I can find some differences.

I will be waiting to see what you think. My w4s amp is a class D amp based on same chips in your pioneer. Maybe not same generarion.

What is it about that NuForce that got your vote over any other A/B amp? Is the st200 some kind of hybrid ?

No that i think of it , who even makes amps now in A/B?

 

[gentlejax]

I have to ask, why that caveat? I ask because I have three of those amps, originally purchased for PA and my Bass rig, all at different power levels, and I'm considering bringing them into my home hi-fi setup with the bass shelving on. Are they considered better (or worse) than the other class D offerings?

Ive had those myself. But since i slimmed down equipement my next amps needed to be regular amps that didnt require 1.75 volts to run.


I know the xls v2 have switch on the backbto lower input voltage

 

[HiFiJeff]

I will be waiting to see what you think. My w4s amp is a class D amp based on same chips in your pioneer. Maybe not same generarion.

What is it about that NuForce that got your vote over any other A/B amp? Is the st200 some kind of hybrid ?

No that i think of it , who even makes amps now in A/B?

If that's the case, your W4S Class D amp has to sound pretty good. My Pioneer is the newer 2018 VSX-LX102. And when I first got it in and got it all hooked up in my theater room, I was raving about it and saying it was even better than the Volt+. Well there were a few factors influencing my decision, I was a little tipsy, been home all day and had a few cocktails, I was cranking the home theater system with actions scenes and dual subs a blazing and cranking a Blu-Ray concert of Nine Inch Nails. Well of course I thought the Pioneer was better than the Volt+. Until I went back to the Volt+ and did some sober critical listening. LOL. Volt+ wins hands down, but the Pioneer sounds very good as well on two channel music. Those Class D amps in the Pioneers are sweet! The LX102 is only a 7.2 AVR, I will be moving to the big 11.2 one in the future but I think I paid like $200 for the LX-102! Smoking deal! It sounds better than my $599 Marantz NR-1508 in my living room.

Reviews. Goldmund Job 225 design and characteristics. Talking to people who have owned the STA200. A lot of them said it was a good deal at $1299, that at $499 it's a steal. So the $499 price was a big factor. Two other Class A/B amps I was looking at were priced at $899 and $699. And I heard the $699 Schiit Vidar at RMAF and really wasn't impressed.

Still a lot of companies doing A/B amps.

 

[HiFiJeff]

And with all the Class D, Class A/B debate. When it's all said and done, I don't think you can go wrong with either amp. A well designed, well built and well implemented Class A/B amp will sound fantastic, a well designed, well built and well implemented Class D amp will sound fantastic.

To be honest, I simply wanted a little more juice for my system and 80 watts per channel is, as 45 spinner pointed out, 4x the amount of power my current Volt+ has. Now I could have purchased the Volt+D, which I came real close to doing, but I would also have to purchase a different power supply to get the extra power it has. And I heard that the sweet spot on the Volt is a 19v power supply which I already own that is getting me the 20watts. So went with A/B.

 

[HiFiJeff]

And to add on to this thread on more time. I bet if you took 30 of us from this forum. Sat us down in a room with a Class A/B and a Class D amp of the same power rating. And switched between the two in the same system. I bet 15 of us couldn't tell the difference between the two. And the 15 that got it right, well that is the 50/50 chance part of the equation. LOL So that is saying that I doubt anyone's hearing could tell you that this is Class D and this is Class A/B.

 

[ic-racer]

Two Crown ITEC 5000s. Buy em used. Better then anything else in my barn. I use the AES input.

I just looked at the owner's manual for the I-Tech HD Series. Pretty amazing, including the built-in crossover software.

 

[johnlcnm]

I just looked at the owner's manual for the I-Tech HD Series. Pretty amazing, including the built-in crossover software.

Yep. These things are pretty amazing amplifiers. 32 PEQs per channel. Plus crossover, shelving and delay functions. Two BSS London Sound Web cards in them. Talk about detail in the recordings. These have it in spades. Way overkill for my usage. I have not looked lately at the used market, but these were becoming plentiful when I bought the last one a couple of years ago. The ITECs were designed and built in Elkhart Indiana until Samsung closed the plant in December of 2017.

 

[kurtgo]

Well, brought my Carver VTA 180 tube monoblock amps back out to give the PS Audio M700's a break for awhile. Shit........at least 180 watts of tube power into each speaker makes wonderful music. I think I'm keeping both types of amps around for awhile. That gives me the luxury of two different types of sound and both enjoyable in their own rights. The Carvers have a higher "SQ" factor and the digital amps have a bit more detail. The tube bass is "textural liquidity" and the digital amp is for transient speed. My SS A/B amps get no love anymore. And they are damn good anyway.

 

[RobRoy]

Ive had those myself. But since i slimmed down equipement my next amps needed to be regular amps that didnt require 1.75 volts to run.


I know the xls v2 have switch on the backbto lower input voltage

Ha! Since I've always run them off a mixer, it never dawned on me that they needed more pre-amp than a home stereo pre-amp. Looks like I need to do some spec diving.

 

[HiFiJeff]

Moved to class A/B and the NuForce STA 200 isnt going anywhere until it breaks!

 

[gentlejax]

Moved to class A/B and the NuForce STA 200 isnt going anywhere until it breaks!

You like it that much do ya? You did step up in power though so its not hard to imagine a preference .

In my case they were close in power so it came down to things like rca jacks and speaker posts

 

[HiFiJeff]

You like it that much do ya? You did step up in power though so its not hard to imagine a preference .

In my case they were close in power so it came down to things like rca jacks and speaker posts

Yeah, it's pretty sweet. I was doing some low level listening last night. Some jazz and blues, just random stuff through Spotify and the soundstage was huge and pinpoint.

 

[Guest159]

One day I woke up, and looking at my old Marants, I said to myself "That damn thing is just too efficient!". So I built big ole class A amp. It makes clean square waves out to 200KHz and will swing 10 amp into a 1 ohm load. I'm going to be sticking with it for a while.

 

[guiller]

I've done the opposite: moved from A/B to class A. No regrets at all!!

 

[HiFiJeff]

I've done the opposite: moved from A/B to class A. No regrets at all!!

That's not the question! LOL
The question was Class A/B to D.
Class A is a whole different ball game.