Some Sound Test Time

We're always on the look out to see how we can improve our technical set up.  Especially given the ever growing range of sound equipment on the market. Also, quality amplification at higher PA volumes is much more tricky than at lower home hi-fi volumes, really because the sound waves tend to need to travel further in a PA set up.  So there's real opportunities for new improved solutions to appear on the market, still being constrained by the laws of physics of course.

So, it's one of those indulgent pleasures.  An afternoon,  a hall, kettle for tea, kitkat, bananas, and of course some equipment test out and put through it's paces.  A standard playlist with some familiar and properly obscure music (with very deep base or very high top end) to really test all aspects of the amplified sound.  Add in some like minded friendly company with a mindset for audio perfection, and it's a recipe for enjoyable and thoughtful experimentation, learning and improvement.

This time it was testing out some amps.  Two new amps and three benchmark amps for comparison.  One new class D digital amp to see if it can generate as smoother sound as the class A/B.  And a new compact amp to compare too.

1. Testing a new top end digital amp.

So how does a new top end digital amp - just new to the market - compare to a top end class A/B amp?

Digital amps - Class D - can have tended to have a slightly harsher sound that the more traditional analogue - class A/B amps.  When music is amplified for several hours that harshness can get really noticeable especially in the mid and top end of the sound.  That said they are more compact, lighter and generate less heat.

In conclusion, the class D effect was not really noticeable on the bass amplification.  On the mid and top end the digital solution didn't beat the class A/B performance, but there was not that much in it.

2. Packing two amps into the space of one.

So how does a new compact 4 channel A/B amp compare to the typical 2 channel taking up the same space?

In our quest for ultimate stealth sizing without compromising quality of sound, this was really interesting.  Amplification usually needs 2 channels, one for each of the two stereo signals - left and right.   Given amps are full of electronics  and generate heat, it's always best practice to have a spare to hand.  In our typical set up we tend to use two amps anyway, one for the top and mid sound and the other for the bass, and the amps are just ticking over..  That means that if one amp goes down it's a simple job to convert to one amp, and it just means that the amp works a bit harder, but still within its comfort zone.

So we were naturally curious about the four channel amp that is still the smooth A/B class, takes up half the space, and is lighter. So smaller and lighter but is the sound quality preserved.

In conclusion, a very comparable performance.  In the end the best of the 2 channel A/B amps won out by a whisker. Just a touch warmer sound.  At that margin, this is also down to some personal preference too.