1000 watts in Class D and Class AB

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

The Squeakinator was crafted by the hand of god.
I was just the messenger //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

i bow to you my friend

 

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

I was trying to explain this to a couple of these guys in the other thread and for whatever reason they seem to think that topology dictates sound.

They seem to think for whatever reason that they are some how more gifted or special than anyone else so its tough for them to even grasp the idea that they would in fact be incorrect in their assumptions.

 

[00poop6x 10+ year member]

It's always nice to have both Class A/B and Class D for my sub duties. On heavy rock I flip my amplifier switch to the A/B's, when I have heavy rap I switch to the Class D amps. All in the same vehicle. When I want to go all out SQL, I stack the amps. Talk about power.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

I was trying to explain this to a couple of these guys in the other thread and for whatever reason they seem to think that topology dictates sound.
They seem to think for whatever reason that they are some how more gifted or special than anyone else so its tough for them to even grasp the idea that they would in fact be incorrect in their assumptions.

topology can dictate sound..only thing is we are not dealing with .1% distortion vs 10% LOL. You also have to account for how the amp will be used. Are you using the amplifiers xovers? Are you going to use the amplifiers eq? If you have a good external processor things level out pretty quikly between amplifiers. Sure you might have to fine tune between different amps but that is part of the set up

You also have the prestige effect that super expensive equipment has. What I base as good vs bad is how well does a product sound without having to do any special tuning/ or super install..rarely does an amp fall into the catagory of impossible to make sound good. Next thing you know people will be saying they can tell the brand/type of speakers a car has by listening to it.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

 

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

topology can dictate sound..only thing is we are not dealing with .1% distortion vs 10% LOL. You also have to account for how the amp will be used. Are you using the amplifiers xovers? Are you going to use the amplifiers eq? If you have a good external processor things level out pretty quikly between amplifiers. Sure you might have to fine tune between different amps but that is part of the set up
You also have the prestige effect that super expensive equipment has. What I base as good vs bad is how well does a product sound without having to do any special tuning/ or super install..rarely does an amp fall into the catagory of impossible to make sound good. Next thing you know people will be saying they can tell the brand/type of speakers a car has by listening to it.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

May I ask how topology, by itself will dictate sound?

Of course there are byproducts of topology, not to mention many amps that have inferior design that will make the differences apparent but to say across the board that class d sound is inferior to class ab sound is pretty untrue when you think about it. Im not sure whether you agree or disagree but since you quoted me I am merely responding to you and the thread. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

And I agree set-up is a major factor, not to mention the other numerous variable in play and that is the reasoning with which I would argue that its impossible to hear the class of the amplification.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

a totally crappy designs will have a dirtier signal. Like i said "only thing is we are not dealing with .1% distortion vs 10%" In almost every case we are dealing in almost inaudiable to our ears distortion ratings to our ears.

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

Actually, I am going to have to agree with mokedaddy and squeak9798 and I am going to open my mind on this topic! If ALL class D amplifiers are flawed, there is NO WAY that I would have liked the Digital Designs or the MOJO series of amp. If you had put a gun to my head and asked me to pick out the difference between those amps and a quality Class AB amp, I wouldn't have been able to do it because they hit fast paced material with no problems.

Maybe my logic is flawed here, but my inconclusive testing probably uncovered other factors as to why some of the other class D setups I have heard sound like garbage. The first thing I will blame is a budget amp. Besides some psychological factor of one amp costing three times as much as another, there has to be a reason why a Digital Designs Class D amp or a Memphis MOJO cost more than a Hifonics Brutus, Autotek, Cadence, etc. With that said, I would be willing to bet that a quality Class D amp is nearly impossible to distinguish from its Class AB competition from 20 to 70 Hz!

Oddly, it may not be the budget amp itself. What about the signal processing of the built-in crossover on this budget amp as others have pointed out? I don't know about any of you, but when signal processing built into amplifiers first became popular, I still preferred using my Coustic XM3 to the amplifier's built-in processing.

Last on the list, I will blame setup and tuning. Some of these guys were running pre-fab enclosures with systems installed by your typical BB/CC or ignorant mom & pop shop. I have learned through the years that I can make something "cheap" sound pretty good with a little effort. Unfortunately, any idiot can make something expensive sound like *** due to their ignorance or inexperience!

Oh, while I am at it, I figured out how to get the 13w6 in my Mustang sounding better.... I had to lower the subwoofer gain a tad. Even though I went through all the pains to set the gain properly, the Class D output section of my 25 to Life Power 1000 was outputting MORE voltage than I had originally set it. Oddly, I think that may be why the Bxi 1608D sounded like *** on the PG 10s compared to the Lunar. It's gains were set sooooooo close to the clipping point, the Disturbed tracks may have been able to push it into levels of audible distortion, hence the one big blah.......

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

And just in case mokedaddy still doesn't get what I am saying about my point is I do not know of an amplifier that anyone would attempt to sell that does 5%+ distortion at a usable listening level. Closest I know of are old school lower lined graphiti soundz red amps that had a dealer cost of under 30 bucks back in the mid 90's

 

[MrDave 10+ year member]

I'll take class A/B.

 

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

And just in case mokedaddy still doesn't get what I am saying about my point is I do not know of an amplifier that anyone would attempt to sell that does 5%+ distortion at a usable listening level. Closest I know of are old school lower lined graphiti soundz red amps that had a dealer cost of under 30 bucks back in the mid 90's

Yes I understand.

 

[Mass Car Audio 10+ year member]

Is there a difference in clarity, sound and overall SPL between 1000 watts of power in Class AB amps than that with Class D amps? I hear people say that the clarity and musical sound of class AB amps is much preferred than that of class D amps. I also hear people say that 1000 watts in class AB is much stronger than 1000 watts in class D amps. Is this true?

What type of class D are you taking about ? analog or digital ?

 

[cleansoundzz 10+ year member]

More opinons?

 

[rc10mike 10+ year member]

I remember this thread...

All I can say is this. I have a couple Zapco 9.0xd's and a US Amps AX-2000 A/B amp. Both are good/high end/quality amps the put out around 2kw @ 4ohms. Im running two IDmax 12's.

Im still running the AX......

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Good info here.

In my experience the only thing I could honestly tell was the D's ran cooler. The A/B's I usually run because 1, they are cheaper in most cases and 2, there are more options out there.

I loved my class D amps when I had them and they never did shut off on me. I have a couple different AB brands get too hot and shut down, even when they were barely being pushed.

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

Pissing contest.