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Over the last year I was so busy with my day job that I spent nearly no time reading up on the forums and building new equipment. And I just got used to building tube amps, reading about class-A solid state and Gainclones etc. and now must learn that this is all old and outdated technology.
The latest trend in DIY audio is Class-D amps. Apparently D stands for Digital, but it is not so much a digital amp we're talking about. Class-D amps were in use for a longer time, but their sonic qualities were well below traditional analog amplifiers and therefore their use was limited (some subwoofers, portables, gettoblasters etc.)
But reading up on the forums, I noticed that people I remember from a year ago that were so satisfied with their Gainclones are now "reviewing" the new class-D amps. And they're convinced that this technology is even better, offering the speed of gainclones, the power of classic solid state and the air of tube amplifiers. Sounds to good to be true? Maybe; new is always better ...
Nevertheless, there have been a number of enhancements lately in the amplifier space probably as a result of iPods and other portable devices that need amplification with minimal power consumption. The class-T (T for Tripath) is a subset of Class-D amplifiers based on Tripath chips, is an example of this. The original tripath amp cost about $25 or so, could be operated on batteries, very small and hardly needed cooling. And it sounded good as well. No wonder everybody wanted to have one.
Apart from sound quality, what determines whether such new technology is successful for the DIY community? First of all I think it must be either new or relatively unknown technology not widely used in commercial high-end HiFi amplifiers or must be a cheap DIY alternative for very expensive established amps (e.g. Pass Aleph).
But even more important, it must be relatively simple to build with reference boards being available, yet leaving us DIY fanatices enough room to "improve" the design with our own capacitors, resistors, power supplies etc. etc. After all, for some it is the challenge to build something which is equal or better than the original for just a fraction of the costs.
And as far as I can see, these new Class-D amps offer even better possibilities than the gainclones of last years: There are more components and thus there is more room for improvement (or f*ck up), there are lost of kits available form the start which make building an amplifier like this not a real challenge. And these kits are often based on reference boards from the chip supplier as well. And some amps like the Hypex modules are not even kits but just need a power supply in order to build a complete amp.
For me that's good news if I needed a new amp, but bad news for my DIY skills. I rather work on a project for a longer time where my own decisions matter and make the difference.
I've been reading for a few hours on this subject, looking for the best possible implementation for me to start with. Of course I have some knowledge of electronics now and know how to hold a soldering iron and therefore I can choose from a wide selection of amplifiers.
As far as I can see now there are three alternatives for technology (chips/designs) on the market now, and a few OEM's are building kits or products based on these technologies:
I've decided to buy one of these modules, the AMP5, from http://www.41hz.com and try the amp for myself.