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Class H design and it sound

highend64

highend64

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I have been reading alot about oprating class of amplifiers lately. Currently I have an Adcom GFA-5500 but I am in the verge of trying out the Emotiva RPA-1 amplifier. I have read that this amp is ran Class H and that is is dual mono design. Anyone has experience with Class H and how does it sound?
 
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Here is a link that explains a little about Class H. Just scroll down a bit.
This is really about Crown's Class I-Tech, but it explains the difference.
I have a couple of these Crown amps. At first, I thought the amps had a class D amp driving a decrete output stage when I first opened one up.
Anyway, the article explains a few limitations of Class H you may or may not care about. You might look into Class G as well?
Doing more searches about the different Classes might help.

Crown Audio - Professional Power Amplifiers | English (US)

www.crownaudio.com www.crownaudio.com
 
Lavane said:
Here is a link that explains a little about Class H. Just scroll down a bit.
This is really about Crown's Class I-Tech, but it explains the difference.
I have a couple of these Crown amps. At first, I thought the amps had a class D amp driving a decrete output stage when I first opened one up.
Anyway, the article explains a few limitations of Class H you may or may not care about. You might look into Class G as well?
Doing more searches about the different Classes might help.

Crown Audio - Professional Power Amplifiers | English (US)

www.crownaudio.com www.crownaudio.com
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Thanks for the info. BTW, I do have a Crown I tech 6000 amp and it is great. Obviously not used in my system.
 
If the statements from Crown are to be believed, Class I is the better choise over Class H. But it would be nice to hear a side by side comparison.
Specs ain't everything.
 
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Some of the better-engineered Class H amps have a dynamic, muscular sound with some of the best headroom you'll find. I use a heavily upgraded Proton D1200 power amp in my main setup. Its 'sonic character' is among the best or most pleasing to the ear I've heard among dozens of others. Definitely not a thin, sterile, cold or uninspired sound; but very full, somewhat warmish, punchy (ballsy) and very natural sounding.
 
Lavane said:
Good for subwoofer amps.
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I use one (Soundcraftsmen MA5002) on my two JBL 4648 bass bins. Sounds pretty damn good...just wish the 4648's were 4 ohm instead of 8 so the amp would be outputting 375wpc rather than 250@8. Still, with the high sensitivity if the 2226 drivers, 250wpc can push them to live music event SPL's.
 
I have a couple of class H Soundcraftsmen MA5002's. I picked the first one up fairly early in my hifi hobby journey, but I'd been in the game long enough that I'd acquired and had a pretty decent variety of midfi SS amps to compare it to. I think I was using Magnepan MMG's or Vandersteen 2ci's when I got it, but other amps I had in the collection at the time included Kenwood M2 Sigma, Adcom 5500, Onkyo M-504, Denon POA-1500, Phase Linear 700B (all those with original caps), an Emotiva XPA-2 and a Halfer 500 that had been recapped with oversized output caps and a few other mods. The Soundcraftsmen was an immediate favorite...not the last word in detail but had a sense of warmth, flow and muscle to drive difficult loads without strain. I remember when I got Infinity QLS-1's the Soundcraftsmen stepped up to the task of pushing those 82db sensitivity amp killer beasts with their sub 2-ohm dips with nary a whimper and sounded fantastic...unlike the Emotiva XPA-2 which was sent into protect mode more than a few times and not even under particularly demanding volume settings. It took an Aragon 8008 to outclass the Soundcraftsmen (which had been recapped a few months after I acquired it...no easy task with point to point wiring)...which was twice the money of the Soundcraftsmen but that's just how good the Soundcraftsmen is...it took a sizeable investment to improve upon it.
 
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onanysunday said:
Some of the better-engineered Class H amps have a dynamic, muscular sound with some of the best headroom you'll find. I use a heavily upgraded Proton D1200 power amp in my main setup. Its 'sonic character' is among the best or most pleasing to the ear I've heard among dozens of others. Definitely not a thin, sterile, cold or uninspired sound; but very full, somewhat warmish, punchy (ballsy) and very natural sounding.
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What did you do to your Proton amp ?
Which preamp are you using ?
 
I didn't like the sound of Craftsman stuff we sold be it their power amps, EQ's or EQ pre-amps. It was as if their were high frequencies tied to every sustained note and not pure tones. I really didn't like the EQ. You didn't dare try boosting the highs even the slightest bit as the edginess just drove me over the brink and I had to turn off the sound. I don't know what Urei and Mcintosh do, but their program EQ's don't sound that way.. Even Crown's EQ 2 is perfectly clean. There was an issue called TIM back in the 70's and 80's and thats what I thought I was hearing. Its some of the worst sound distortions there is in my opinion. In its way I can tolerate CD's with steep brick wall filters than I can electronics with TIM distortions.
 
twiiii said:
I didn't like the sound of Craftsman stuff we sold be it their power amps, EQ's or EQ pre-amps. It was as if their were high frequencies tied to every sustained note and not pure tones. I really didn't like the EQ. You didn't dare try boosting the highs even the slightest bit as the edginess just drove me over the brink and I had to turn off the sound. I don't know what Urei and Mcintosh do, but their program EQ's don't sound that way.. Even Crown's EQ 2 is perfectly clean. There was an issue called TIM back in the 70's and 80's and thats what I thought I was hearing. Its some of the worst sound distortions there is in my opinion. In its way I can tolerate CD's with steep brick wall filters than I can electronics with TIM distortions.
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What do you make of the Soundcraftsmen power amps with mosfet transistors ? Better than class H ?
 
I have a couple of QSC Class H amps. My understanding is that they are basically class AB, but with a modification that makes them a little more compact and lightweight. Not light like Class D, but still, maybe 20% lighter. This came at a savings to large sound companies and fuel savings.

I use my Class H amps for my Bass Guitar rigs. The do have a muscular sound that I prefer for electric bass performance. I tried the latest Crown class D or I amps, but they didn't have the punch that my class H amps have. Never tried them for Hifi though.
 
onanysunday said:
Some of the better-engineered Class H amps have a dynamic, muscular sound with some of the best headroom you'll find. I use a heavily upgraded Proton D1200 power amp in my main setup. Its 'sonic character' is among the best or most pleasing to the ear I've heard among dozens of others. Definitely not a thin, sterile, cold or uninspired sound; but very full, somewhat warmish, punchy (ballsy) and very natural sounding.
Click to expand...
Can you PM me, thanks
 
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