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I'm considering an A/B amp for mids/highs versus a class D amp. I've read that the class A/B amps are less efficient but deliver a more realistic or lifelike reproduction of the music versus the "sterile" or "uninspiring" sound of a class D amplifier. Please add your thought and experiences if you have any, I'd love to hear them.
That's what I think too, however almost every mainstream amp manufacturer is going or has gone class D on their multi-channel amps. I'd rather do a 3 channel or 5 channel amp for simplicity and weight savings but for better sound quality is looks like doing one class A/B for mids/highs and then a separate class D amp for a sub will net you the best sound quality.
It depends more on the circuit design and power supply than whether it is class A/B or D. A good class D will sound better than a marginal A/B, and a good A/B will sound better than a marginal D. Class D has the advantage of greater efficiency (less waste heat) and, depending on construction, can be physically smaller. Those factors may be important or not. You'll do better relying more on reputation and listening to various amplifiers if you can find somewhere to audition them. Keep in mind that you'll get much better sound with a good DSP/tune than the difference in amplifiers.
you'll get much better sound with a good DSP/tune than the difference in amplifiers.
I agree. That is reason why I also run a Helix DSP.2 also. Other good DSPs include Mosconi, Arc, JL, and Dayton Audio, once again, in that descending order.
I guarantee you can do a blind test with a $75 set of Pioneer 6.5" speakers against a thousand dollar set of Focal 6.5 speakers and half the people would say the Pioneer is better. It would probably be louder too. Most people don't even like the sound of flat/neutral music aka "true musical reproduction".
There are a hundred other factors when swapping an amp than just if it is D or AB. Gain settings the same? Wattage? Crossovers? All these can effect what you perceive is good or bad. And what we think sounds good can change by the day as well! Audio is black magic and completely subjective.
If comparing apples to apples on quality, in other words looking at just the higher end amps, class AB on the mids and D on the subs is the way to go. Class A/B sound better to me. They may be larger and less efficient but my priority is sound quality at either lower or higher SPL's over all else. The sound reproduction is more lifelike and audiophile clean.
I've been looking at getting a single DIN Kenwood head unit. And getting that small Alpine 445U Class D amp which puts out 45W. I don't know if that small amp will be a noticeable improvement or not compared to just running off the Kenwood head unit at 22W.
About 3 dB, or "the smallest difference in level that is easily heard by most listeners listening to speech or music."
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A/B amp or class D ?
