Amp/Preamp Asylum

RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply

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AbeCollins

A

In Reply to: RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply posted by Leo loves music on July 01, 2024 at 08:55:44

Yes, "different people have different ears", as you say. As such, broad generalizations about Class A being the best do not apply.
Yes, Pass Labs is very nice. I owned two of their Class A amps but in my system I preferred their Class AB amps (I owned 3 of them over the years).
But today, I am extremely pleased with my Class D choices and will take them over the Pass Labs of my past. There's another inmate here who went the same direction by replacing his Pass Labs X150.8 with Class D.
Keeping an open mind (and clean ears!) is key.

Edits: 07/01/24

Follow Ups:

RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply - Leo loves music 09:04:12 07/01/24 (6)
I am personally using a class D amp in one of my system because I think it is a good value and a strong driving capability.

By any chance, do you have a PASS Labs class A amp want to sell?
- RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply - AbeCollins 09:08:43 07/01/24 (5)
  No, I haven't owned Pass Labs amps in many years. They ARE very nice amps but I prefer the advantages of Class D in my current setup.
  
  I wouldn't mind trying a newer Pass Labs preamp sometime. I once owned the X2.5 and XP-10. Both were nice sounding preamps but I couldn't stand the old Pass remotes from the X2.5 era. Pass corrected their ergonomic blunder with their newer generation preamps and remotes.
  - RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply - Leo loves music 09:15:25 07/01/24 (4)
    One thing to check out a class D (or any amp) is that they have a good control when signal is near zero.
    - RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply - AbeCollins 10:44:55 07/01/24 (3)
      " One thing to check out a class D (or any amp) is that they have a good control when signal is near zero."
      
      Not sure what you mean by "good control" when signal is near zero.
      
      If you're talking about no noise or hiss, my Class D amp is dead quiet.
      
      On the other hand, my early Class D PS Audio HCA-2 from 20+ years go did have a slight amount of hiss. It was enough to be annoying. These amps were initially shipped with very high gain (something like 30dB). PS Audio later reduced the gain a few dB which corrected the issue for most people.
      - RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply - morricab 13:09:53 07/02/24 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply posted by AbeCollins on July 01, 2024 at 10:44:55
        
        That was a horrible sounding amp. I had one that I took on trade and it sounded like garbage.
      - RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply - Leo loves music 11:28:31 07/01/24 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply posted by AbeCollins on July 01, 2024 at 10:44:55
        
        a "good control" means grasp the speakers firmly and do not let them run freely.
        
        It is not about the noise.
        
        This is a very basic concept in amp design.
      - Some early or sloppy class D designs have trouble with offsets - Ralph 11:25:23 07/01/24 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: What we learned and cling to from decades past no longer apply posted by AbeCollins on July 01, 2024 at 10:44:55
        
        And you hear those problems at lower volume levels. Any competent design won't have this issue though.

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