Class D and A/B amps

[Yuhsuan]

I'm gonna say something that will get myself flamed but doesn't matter....

 

Here goes, unless you have a space constraint, a tight budget or a weak electrical system, ALWAYS use a class AB amplifier if you are concerned about SQ. Even for your sub. Never a class D amp

 

And it is not always about power either. I used to have a JBL BP1200.1 driving my sub(class D 1000 watter), when I changed to a class AB monoblock with less than half the power, the sub with the class AB amp driving it sounded better.

[Bosebani]

Don't worry la, forum is for sharing and learning

[X_confuse]

y u "tut" me until so jiat lat.. wah lau.. hahaha..i never say anything abt quality from the price wat.. just state my observation on the pricin on various types of amp lor.

 

but nice explanation. aiyah. i putting it in common layman terms mah. and its quite true (from what i've seen), tube is indeed more expensive as compared to normal Class ABs ard. how can u say i easily get conned?

 

class A, most ard quite ex.

 

class AB, common ard,price vary from cheap to ex.

 

Hybrid tube: more ex liao, like butler and rammaudio (according to bosebani, he got for 3K), thus i tink tats expensive.

 

class D, for sub, price vary lor..

 

aiyah, best to listen with own ears lor..

 

dun get me wrong. Just want to share the experiences. Those amps that u mentioned ex bcos the distributors made up too much. U should buy the yearly " Car Audio " magazines. It come with all the list prices in USA. Maybe u should borrow it from library. RAMN audio and butler are similar prices as those Rockford ,PPi and Orion.

 

can c u r in learning stage. continue it

[X_confuse]

that time i ask the integra with it leh.. he said around that figure.

but its a chio amp..

 

Is it. Singapore got Thesis ? Somemore installed inside the car already ?

[K2000]

there is not hard rule to define what class of amp to be used in SQ/SPL setup, in fact, beside all you have mentioned, there are also class G and class T amp. from my observation, SQ ppl like to use class A/B amp for sub, which can control the sub better than class d amp, so there are some class a/b monoblock in the market too, like Tru hammer.

[K2000]

yes, you are right, just because class AB amp take control of the sub much better than a class d, someone said, a good amp is not about how it whack your sub, its about how it can control your sub

[X_confuse]

wat do you mean by input tube and output mosfet? Can elaborate?

so there's realy no hard and fast rule tat states wat tyoe of amp is suitable for component or sub or used to achieve SQ or SPL, rite?

if there is, so to achieve SQ or SPL, which class of amp should we use?

So, for circuit diagram design, wat are the kind of diagram or design tat amps are based on? and wat are the differences for these designs?

 

I apologise if i am asking too much.. but was just curious? coz reading on website, some of the terms tat they use, really can't understand, easier to refer layman's term to professional lingo..

 

Input stage of the amp is Tube and Output stage of the amp is mosfet circut design. Mostly all the USA brandnames are using mosfet circuit design.

Talk abt Tube will related with fiber optic. wow... long story

 

In fact AB/Mosfet design are suitable for SQ and SPL. The only things u have to do is add on the capacitor to make the current supply more constant and more energy. In fact AB/Mosfet amp can perform SQL !!! Normally the damping factor is high compare with class D

 

Class D was designed by US. Bcos for the past history,they like to play loud.Many subs.

use small current but produce the high power. Normally u can easily to get class D amp with big power rating.

 

Most of the european products are AB n mosfet. Bcos they more on audiophile system.

 

Note, monoblock also got class AB n mosfet. Doesn't mean all the monoblock is class D

 

[X_confuse]

as wat Xconfused said, AB also can, but personally, i'll still go for a class D as it wont generate so much heat

 

hmm... can tell u r the SPL kaki.

but the audioart amps that u use are AB design le. good stuffs.

[X_confuse]

I'm gonna say something that will get myself flamed but doesn't matter....

 

Here goes, unless you have a space constraint, a tight budget or a weak electrical system, ALWAYS use a class AB amplifier if you are concerned about SQ. Even for your sub. Never a class D amp

 

And it is not always about power either. I used to have a JBL BP1200.1 driving my sub(class D 1000 watter), when I changed to a class AB monoblock with less than half the power, the sub with the class AB amp driving it sounded better.

 

u got it man

That wat i want to say.

[X_confuse]

hahaha... well said.

Right , Audison monoblock, Focal monoblock, Diamond monoblock, Tru Tech, and...

 

Rockford Power series also can consider. Very good mosfet design. No doubt on it.

[Headshok]

my audioart classs AB cheater amps, 2x50 watts. one burned out liao, the other still suffering.. heheh..

[Headshok]

actually, if u read those car audio magazine, u can vomit blood after seeing the prices.

its DAMM cheap.. but u cant really use those to judge the prices here in Singapore. cos after importing in those products and the local agents jackin up the prices so that they can earn a living,and then supplyin to authorized dealers, it'll reach us much more ex.

 

 

 

 

but then again, when i made the comment abt the prices of the various types of amps, i'm making it in the Singapore context. the tubes/tube hybrids are 'generally' more expensive then most of their AB counter parts, but there are also class AB amps that are also priced out of this world.

 

IMHO, those prices in the US magazine only relates to pple who get their stuff direct from the US(be it hand carrying back or privately shipping it back). but for general consumers, those prices can be very heart breaking, imagine walkin into an ICE shop, askin for a rockford amp, expectin it to be a certain price and gettin a rude shock when its sold at a much more expensive price. thus those prices in magazines are pretty misleading in a way.

 

aniway, i'm still in the learning stage for many things, thanks for the encouragement, . . But i will never say i know everything as there are confirmed pple out there (like you) with such a wealth of knowledge to share.

 

cheers man!

Edited March 5, 2006 by Headshok

[Headshok]

haha.. why u say until this place so hostile? its only ur observation wat, nothing wrong with saying it.. heheh..

 

 

cheers!

[Sidestepper]

was wondering if any seniors here can explain wats the main diff between a Class D and a A/B amp?

 

hey u,

imo...it all comes down to the quality n design of the amp itself and manufacturer. Each class of amps have their own flaws n pros. Its just classed under catergories on how the rail voltage works in them. Theres a wide variety of A, A/B and D amps, including mosfets, biopolar, tubes etc2. Although so far most of the Class D's ive come arcoss r mosfets primarily. IMO, there no need for use of Class A design amp in a car environment, as the efficiency is low n heats up fairly quickly and with the inherant road noise it kinnda defeats the purpose. IMO, Class D is the future of amps, the way technolody is improving, newer faster switching parts r being introduced daily, if the design is spot on, theres no reason why a class D cant compare with an A/AB design. Tubes however r a diff issue altogether, some might like it...some might not.

[Yuhsuan]

You're right about the advances made for class D amps. I've heard of a certain brand of class D amps being used in home audio, and being compared to megabucks tube amps. Of course, I have not been dowm to Bukit Timah to hear these amps but from all accounts, they seem to be good. My question is that:

Do we really need so much power? SPL aside, If I drive my sub using 300W from a class AB amp, is it really worse-sounding than a class D amp putting out 600W?

 

There's this saying (not that I agree with it totally), it's not how many watts in total, but the QUALITY of the first 10 watts of power from the amp.

 

I still remembered back in the late eighties when I was buying my first serious stereo syst, I first heard the Naim Nait 1 integrated amp. ONLY 15W per channel but comparing it with amps with much bigger rated power, it wiped the floor with the asses of most of those amps compared with it.

 

and no, I'm not a naim/PRAT/flat-earth person, but I was impressed.

[Yuhsuan]

ahhh, rockford fosgate..... probably the most misunderstood brand in SG

 

dun worry bout the high price, that's because of PRO-ICE, according to someone, all that is about to change....

[Ivan0507]

i agreed with you. you can't compare the price in us(states) and here in singapore.if u don't like the price here u can always import from us(states).and u need to know where u purchase from(west,south or east of us) and the shippment type , how many item you going to get .cost are all different,

[Headshok]

yeah.. heheh.. heard abt it too. heheh..