Wired 4 Sound amps.

[frenchmon]

Been looking at the mono block amps at Wired 4 Sound for a while now. Interested in the W4S SX-500 Monoblocks. Unbelievable power at 250 watts per mono....

Does any body have any experience with Wired 4 sound products?

Thanks

[harley .guy07]

I have read posts on forums explaining how thloey compare to the class d audio amps like mine and it is always a toss up on which sounds better but it seems the Class d audio amps seem to usually win the sound offs I have read. I don't know the price of their Mono blocks but you could have a pair of mono blocks built by Class d audio for less and they would probably be better or at least as good. But I will say this if the W4Sound amps are being compared to the Class d audio amps then they are quite good in my opinion since I have been blown away with my amp.

[frenchmon]

I have read posts on forums explaining how thloey compare to the class d audio amps like mine and it is always a toss up on which sounds better but it seems the Class d audio amps seem to usually win the sound offs I have read. I don't know the price of their Mono blocks but you could have a pair of mono blocks built by Class d audio for less and they would probably be better or at least as good. But I will say this if the W4Sound amps are being compared to the Class d audio amps then they are quite good in my opinion since I have been blown away with my amp.

Hi harley...where you been?

Hey what is the characteristics of the class D amps?

[Feanor]

Hi harley...where you been?

Hey what is the characteristics of the class D amps?

Characteristics of class D amps? Well for starters they differ from each other just like other basic amp types.

However to generalize, (from all I've heard), class D, more properly a.k.a. "switching amps":

= Have high output impedance so have high damping factors and are tolerant of speaker load.
= Offer high power especially relative to their size, weight, and power consumption; (they're "green").
= If a class D comes with "switching power supply" (SMPS), a class D is even lighter than if it come a linear supply. However lots of people seem to prefer the linear supplies for supposedly better sound.
= Given high damping factor, class D's tend to have very controlled bass -- whether this is totally good depends on the speaker being driven.
= Class D's are often described as very transparent and detailed-- this has been my personal (though limited) experience. This despite that class D's supposed can have a lot of ultrasonic noise and can't reproduce a square wave. (Ask yourself, do I listen to square waves?)
= Class D's, (coincidentally like other solid states), don't have the "warmth" and/or "harmonic richness", or sense of ambient depth that (many) tube amps do. (Personally I believe the tube attributes are actually artefacts, but hey, everybody has their own opinion.)
= Some class D amps are built using off-the-shelf modules from notable makers such as ICEpower or Hypex; others use these modules with proprietary capacitor or front-end "improvements" and/or improved power suppliers. Others are proprietary designs based on logic chips from Texas Instruments, International Rectifier, or Tripath. (Tripath is out of business but there is still a huge supply of their chips on the market).

An example of amp using a highly modified OEM-based design is the new Rogue Medusa and Hydra hybrid tube/class D amps, HERE. According to Mark O'Brien as reported HERE, the amps use Hypex modules but with their front-ends bypass in favor of an in-house tube driver stage. They use linear power supplies too.

[harley .guy07]

Feanor pretty much nailed it on what the class d amps are like compared to other designs. To me they seem to have more detail than most other ss amps I have heard without the edgyness the comes with other ss amps. In fact I have not heard an amp yet that has sounded this good on my speakers. While tubes do have a certain characteristic that some find attractive I agree with Feanor that this may not be the more natural sound of the music but a trait of the tube designs themselves.