We have that bowl on our dining table.
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Wow, checked the price on that Naim, 10k!! for an AIO
That’s roughly double the price of the previous iteration.
And I thought class D was cheaper to make…
The good class D amps are all expensive still.
A basic Class D implementation is cheaper, but they have a lot of “issues”, to start with they’re load dependent because often the output filter is such that the load is a part of the circuit, and speakers aren’t constant resistive loads. I think that is a lot of what gives them a bad rep of fizzy treble, or sometimes weak Bass. They also suffer from the same problem real 1 bit DAC’s have, that all the noise stacks up at a single frequency and unlike 1 Bit DAC’s they tend to modulate much closer to the audio frequency.
The Naim and many of the newer class D designs Don’t have any of those issues, and while I haven’t listened to any of them extensively at first blush they just sound like very good amplifiers.
I have no idea how much of the current pricing is factoring in IP cost and how much is parts. But
just like anything else in this space, though you still need a quality PSU, it still needs to be able to supply enough current for peak power levels, and that can get expensive quickly.
There are a few companies supplying modules for DIY, that have a decent rep.
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Those are valid points and good class D is not cheap indeed, but one of the factors driving it is surely the cost factor, whether its in parts or manufacturing. Decent PSU, input, output, good application, integration with almost every provider and all that was already present in the regular Nova, what has mainly changed here is the cost A/B versus cost class D. IP is a an unknown but even assuming class D is more expensive, a 100% price increase for that feels a bit steep to me.
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I don’t think what Naim are going for with class D is cost saving, it’s more about packaging and power.
The BIG advantage of class D is less heat, and hence either more power in the same box or a smaller box.
The reason class D was associated with lower cost is really about the solutions that have existed, if you wanted to make a cheap 60W amp, you didn’t have a choice, it pretty much had to be class D, and no one until recently (read last decade or so) was seriously making HiFi Class D, and those trying to deal with heat/packaging issues in that space resorted to the complexity of class G/H amps where the power rail is dynamically modulated based on the input.
I don’t think the way to look at this is Class A/B vs Class D, it’s more is the amp worth the additional cost and that’s something you can’t really judge without hearing it.
There is a lot of talk of the sound of class A etc etc. But it’s all garbage, class A doesn’t have a sound, it is harder to fuck up a class A amp, because you sidestep the whole crossover distortion issue, but that’s in the specific implementation.
There are a few companies now heavily committed in the class D space, Naim is one of them.
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I think it’s also a lot of perception. Until high end companies make class D implementations that sound good and charge audiophile money for it, most people’s perception of class D will remain what it’s been.
I had an old Carver (class H) amp that sounded more like tubes and had a wonderful musicality to it than many other amps I’ve owned since. But it’s a marketing chicken and egg thing. People perceive class A and A/B and the associated high end audio prices that are common when yo purchase them. They don’t associate high end high dollar prices with class D. In time I fully believe that class D will dominate and class A will be the niche. Changing perceptions doesn’t happen overnight, especially in the audiophile community.
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Those EF499s are $211 on taobao and have been for the last month or so. Seems like it would be a no brainer for a secondary setup for just casual listening given that they aren’t total trash, but I’m guessing they’re at least ok.
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Woah, a Brise iem?! That’s interesting. Also, a closer look on the insides @ Brise…
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Interesting, basically a Roon ROCK with digital or analog out, can be used as a bridge or a server.
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Guess they heard you loud and clear @Towa
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Purdy…
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Indeed. Price is $22K!
You know I loves me some TH909 very curious about this 808. Thanks for the post.
I’m wondering if the drivers are new or if they are re-inventing how they describe the Tesla 1.5.
I see that they’ve listed the sensitvity at 96dB for the 808 vs 100dB for the 909 - that’s the only difference that I can see.
I think I know what headphone I will get to break the ice in 2024…
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Final Audio D7000…
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That’s about Focal Utopia weight right there. Not sure how I feel about it being semi-open though.
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