Class a/bi digetal

[rp69]

In regards to sq is there a audible difference in sound . Of course quality is a factor but let's say both types being compared are of good quality

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[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Not at all. Amplifiers should not color the sound in any way. Power is the key. Good clean power.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Some will hear a difference. Try it and find out. If you only buy one amplifier I have some advice.

Power Ratings: What Do They Mean?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

It's comical watching somebody that "hears" a difference try to explain it. They ramble on about nonsence till they get to the power difference. That's the only part that makes sence.

 

[rp69]

Alpine and jl have moved to didget and are big players.some old school amps where considered top notch . Remember infinity first amps.made in USA branch of harmon kardon .I had a class a/b 50x4 with the oeheat sink light up . Back then there digetal line was very expensive

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Most everybody that's big in the sound quality amp world has a class D now. They still keep the A/B for the brain washed purist

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Better parts better design better sound.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Its more about the higher the amp costs, the better it'll sound than anything. cheap class A/Bs will sound better than cheap class Ds however the class Ds can be much louder. However in the expensive hi end amp range, you wont likely hear any differences at all.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Distortion will color. That's all you will hear. Cheap amps distort fast.

That's why I say a clean watt will sound like a clean watt. No color.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Distortion will color. That's all you will hear. Cheap amps distort fast. That's why I say a clean watt will sound like a clean watt. No color.

I got to test an alpine PDX F6 today. It sounded way better than the PPI, louder and had a lot of detail, it was like my JL 6600 but much louder after a bit of tuning. I didnt realize my front stage can sound like that at that high of a volume level, things usually distort with the ppi. I came in my pants a bit.

 

[ciaonzo 5,000+ posts]

I have heard differences when changing amplifiers of the same wattage. But hear me out.

An amplifier should not impart color but... You have to consider the partnership of the drivers, cables and acoustic environment the driver is in (in regards to how that will affect the impedance plot). Drivers and cables are reactive loads to the amplifier by way of resistance, inductance, and capacitance. These reactive profiles can change simply by changing the enclosure. Give some amplifiers a driver with an insanely nasty impedance magnitude at resonance (very steep phase angles on the inductance and capacitance sides of resonance) and it may not control the driver too well. This can lead to muddy and/or weak bass. You will hear that. Give some amplifiers a set of flat speaker cables that have extremely low impedance & inductance, but very high capacitance, and not only might you hear a difference, you may actually damage the amplifier with oscillation/feedback. Probably not many folks using this type of speaker wire, but just an example of how this can indeed change the sound.

If you have gotten very intimate with a particular pair of speakers over the years and you know exactly how they sound (including their character) and all of the sudden they sound different because you switched amplifiers (exact same wattage), it is likely the result of how that amplifier responds to that particular reactive load. This is what people are hearing when they say they can hear a difference. Some amplifiers can deliver enormous amounts of voltage but struggle with delivering current, some do much better with high current. Some amplifiers can deliver seemingly endless amounts of both current and voltage. These amplifiers don't really struggle too much with reactive loads and tend to sound the same when compared to each other.

Other differences that can be heard are better related to poorly designed circuits that suffer from large amounts of crossover distortion. This happens when the hand-off from one transistor turning off to another turning on is not matched very well. Put as pure a signal as you want into one of these amplifiers and all you will get out is garbage. This can affect the sweetness of the treble and all but kill the life brass and wooden instruments. You will hear that.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoacoustics

That's a mofo that will get you every time. Meaning we hear what we want to hear and tend to forget what something sounded like minutes after we hear it.