D-Sonic Amplifier Lineup Preview

[admin]

D-Sonic might be a company Audioholics' readers are unfamiliar with. Founded in 2006, D-Sonic specializes in Class D amplification, using both ICE modules as well as more advanced designs. So what you say? How does a super efficiency Class D design with up to 1,500W of power into 8 ohms and 2,400W of power into 4 ohms sound? What if I told you that same amplifier was stable down to 2 ohms and below? Intrigued?

Read the D-Sonic Amplifier Preview article

Do you own this amp or want to? Share your experiences here.

 

[Adam]

I've checked on them from time to time over the years. I heard about them here on the forum several years ago, and they intrigue me...but not enough to pony up that kind of cash. I like the redesign, and I'm glad that Dennis has more real photos up versus CAD images (although the photos of the amps on the racks look pretty old with the white power switch on the front) - the clumsiness of the website always put me off enough that I never seriously considered them. That said, some folks here that I respect had nothing but good things to say about them.

 

[Steve81]

I'll admit I'm interested. I don't really need 400+W, but having that much juice on tap in a lightweight, cool running package that doesn't hum is appealing.

 

[utopianemo]

I am

I'm interested in the efficiency of class D amps. I'm glad Audioholics seems to be as well; I don't hear nearly enough about them, but the low heat loss and less energy consumption have had me looking around for a company like this. I've been torn between getting a Pioneer Elite receiver or getting separates, but until now, there hasn't been a viable multichannel amp solution in class D. Any chance on Audioholics getting one of these 5.1 or 7.1 badboys in for a review?

 

[utopianemo]

Oh, and it would be nice to put a link to the company's website on the article, for the sake of convenience.

 

[Adam]

Oh, and it would be nice to put a link to the company's website on the article, for the sake of convenience.

The "Buy It Now" button near the top will take you to their website. But, I agree that it would be nice to add a more obvious link so that folks can easily go check out some more details.

 

[Steve81]

I added a link to the website; re: a review, I wouldn't count on one for the 5/7 channel models, but as noted on the preview, Gene has one of their stereo amps in which will give a good idea of what their M3 line can do.

 

[padgman1]

Does anyone ( outside of Gene, who is reviewing a stereo amp now) have any experience using these amps for main ( L/C/R) use, especially compared to high-current A/B amps from Emotiva, ATI, Parasound, etc.??

 

[crossedover]

Have you tried the search function?

Does anyone ( outside of Gene, who is reviewing a stereo amp now) have any experience using these amps for main ( L/C/R) use, especially compared to high-current A/B amps from Emotiva, ATI, Parasound, etc.??

 

[padgman1]

No, crossedover, I am computer illiterate when it comes to searching items......mainly one gets garbage unless the search parameters are specific to the question being asked but not so specific that one gets no answers......

I ask the question as I have read elsewhere that previous generations of class D amps may not be the best choice for main speaker applications............wondering if this current generation of D-Sonic amps may be better.......

 

[padgman1]

I even started a thread last fall on this......http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/amps-pre-pros-receivers/87016-class-b-vs-class-d-amp-comparisons.html................and got some subjective responses from knowledgeable people, but sparse direct comparisons between class A/B and class D amps. Also noticed that the vast majority of people who have tried both amps seemed to prefer the class A/B ones, primarily for the looks as opposed to the sonic qualities, but not always.

 

[ratso]

there was a review about a year ago on 6moons.com if anyone wants to read it.

 

[Russ750]

I hope this is a full Review

I am really glad they are reviewing these amps. I hope the review, is a complete test of the amps performance. The same test as any class A/B. Even though listening is subjective, at least specs would then be comparable. 20Hz-20khz@8ohms 4ohm 2ohm.
Power output at each impedance level. Basically the same review parameters, as this review.

Emotiva XPR-1 Mono Amplifier Power and Distortion Measurements | Audioholics

I realize it apples and oranges as far as technology, but it would help the consumers of these products, a lot.

 

[gene]

I am really glad they are reviewing these amps. I hope the review, is a complete test of the amps performance. The same test as any class A/B. Even though listening is subjective, at least specs would then be comparable. 20Hz-20khz@8ohms 4ohm 2ohm.
Power output at each impedance level. Basically the same review parameters, as this review.

Emotiva XPR-1 Mono Amplifier Power and Distortion Measurements | Audioholics

I realize it apples and oranges as far as technology, but it would help the consumers of these products, a lot.

Yes I will be conducting the review and testing of this amp with the very same reference gear, speakers, test loads, etc. I also still have the XPR-1's as my reference amp.

 

[Russ750]

Yes I will be conducting the review and testing of this amp with the very same reference gear, speakers, test loads, etc. I also still have the XPR-1's as my reference amp.

Awesome, I own two Emotiva XPA-1 gen 1 monoblocks. On 5/10 i ordered one of D-sonic's 400W dual mono, stereo amps. It will be here on 5/20, to compare to my Emotiva amps. I went with the 400w version over the 600w, due to the wider frequency rating, higher dampening factor, lower THD. The 1500w version was $1000 more and seemed like complete overkill. So this review is going to be interesting. So they only question now is how the 400W performs vs 1500w version. The specs are identical except for wattage capability, and gain factor. The 250w, 600w versions use different modulus, according to Dennis. He wasn't real clear about exactly what difference was. I realize the rated frequency response is outside human hearing, I just hope it is ruler flat between 20hz - 20khz. That was my thinking, without a review to look at. So i am exited about this review. Thanks Gene

 

[gene]

Awesome, I own two Emotiva XPA-1 gen 1 monoblocks. On 5/10 i ordered one of D-sonic's 400W dual mono, stereo amps. It will be here on 5/20, to compare to my Emotiva amps. I went with the 400w version over the 600w, due to the wider frequency rating, higher dampening factor, lower THD. The 1500w version was $1000 more and seemed like complete overkill. So this review is going to be interesting. So they only question now is how the 400W performs vs 1500w version. The specs are identical except for wattage capability, and gain factor. The 250w, 600w versions use different modulus, according to Dennis. He wasn't real clear about exactly what difference was. I realize the rated frequency response is outside human hearing, I just hope it is ruler flat between 20hz - 20khz. That was my thinking, without a review to look at. So i am exited about this review. Thanks Gene

Yes this should be a fun review and comparison. Not sure about the ratings of the diff amps. Sometimes things are speced differently to inflate power output #s. I test out to the limit of my test gear which is 80Khz but I don't power sweep amps (especially Class D) passed 20kHz.

 

[slipperybidness]

Awesome, I own two Emotiva XPA-1 gen 1 monoblocks. On 5/10 i ordered one of D-sonic's 400W dual mono, stereo amps. It will be here on 5/20, to compare to my Emotiva amps. I went with the 400w version over the 600w, due to the wider frequency rating, higher dampening factor, lower THD. The 1500w version was $1000 more and seemed like complete overkill. So this review is going to be interesting. So they only question now is how the 400W performs vs 1500w version. The specs are identical except for wattage capability, and gain factor. The 250w, 600w versions use different modulus, according to Dennis. He wasn't real clear about exactly what difference was. I realize the rated frequency response is outside human hearing, I just hope it is ruler flat between 20hz - 20khz. That was my thinking, without a review to look at. So i am exited about this review. Thanks Gene

There are other reasons that extremely high FR can be a good thing. In particular, if you are using a feedback loop, then an extended FR above 20kHz has design benefits.

 

[RichB]

There are other reasons that extremely high FR can be a good thing. In particular, if you are using a feedback loop, then an extended FR above 20kHz has design benefits.

There are HD recordings that have information above 20kHz so it is interesting to send higher frequencies to the amplifier to make sure there are no issues even if they not output.

- Rich

 

[Russ750]

The other question is of coarse how Dennis measured his amp. ( Example Attack of the Clone Amplifiers | Audioholics). The biggest question I have is, how long a D-sonic amp can hold its power rating? Also what are the reserves/headroom?

My understanding is that a some class A/B amps can sustain there power ratings(Example XPA-1 600w @8 ohms Sine wave). But also drive much higher current for a split second when listening to music, as it is dynamic and not a sine wave. Do class D amps have this same ability??? Or do they just hit a wall? That would be one reason, to go for the 1500w version.

Please correct me if my understanding is wrong. I'm a Noob

 

[Russ750]

Form Factor and amp questions

I even started a thread last fall on this......http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/amps-pre-pros-receivers/amps-pre-pros-receivers/amps-pre-pros-receivers/amps-pre-pros-receivers/87016-class-b-vs-class-d-amp-comparisons.html................and got some subjective responses from knowledgeable people, but sparse direct comparisons between class A/B and class D amps. Also noticed that the vast majority of people who have tried both amps seemed to prefer the class A/B ones, primarily for the looks as opposed to the sonic qualities, but not always.

When i was speaking with Dennis from D-sonic, The form factor was one of my direct questions. If I like the amp, I receive. I am going to transplant it it to a custom made case.(https://www.hammfg.com/dci/products/accessories/rm).
All my equipment is rack mounted. I understand if amp makers have custom size mono amplifier. But as soon as they get into stereo/multi-channel, it seems to make sense to keep it a standard form factor. In fact that is the whole reason I am changing amps. Having the two Emotiva Xpa-1s, and a Xpa-3 plus a Sherbourn cooling unit, takes up 16 rack units. It also generates a fair amount of heat. But sound quality, is still of foremost importance to me. So thus the dilemma, and or change possibly to class D. So if i like what i hear, and they perform well. I will reduce the rack unit space to 6Ru.

There are very few other options in this category. Cherry Ultra's, Anthem Statement M1's. Both of these are rack mountable, but also very expensive in my book. Also the M1 has had some less than favorable reviews. (Anthem Statement M1 monoblock power amplifier Measurements | Stereophile.com). Once again manufacture specs vs specs of a reviewer. Also notice huge dive after 20khz, even though manufacture specs are 5Hz–45kHz. I hope Dennis is a less misleading in his specs.

I have yet to see a professional review of the cherry amps. Which doesn't matter to me as they are out of my price range. But what does interest me, is there design. Back to my previous post. My Emotiva Xpa-1 amps have 1,200VA toroidal transformer, 120,000uF filter capacitance. The Cherry Ultra's have 1800W Toroid Transformer. Not sure of there capacitance. The Cherry Ultras are only rated @ 400w into 8ohms. So why the massive power capability and HUGE transformers(see link below)?

In my previous post, i was wondering about the reserves of the d-sonic amp.
Does there transformer introduce noise?
Would larger capacitance increase there headroom? (See pictures of cherry amps huge capacitors, https://www.digitalamp.com/gallery.php)
Because of there efficiency, is the capacitance a non factor?
Take for example, the intro to Dire Straights - Money for Nothing. At reference levels, think of how an amp would have to have quick burst of current.
Is there a test to see what an amplifiers quick burst (20ms) is capable of?
Do class D and Class A/B amplifiers differ in there abilities in this area?
These are the questions i still have about Class D amps. Specifically D-Sonic amps, as i just bought one. All of the other amps i have owned, have had a clip indicator. D-sonic amps do not.

So once again thank you very much Gene for reviewing these amps. And i hope review covers these questions.