The Greatest Class D Power Amplifier You Have Never Heard!

[@kevinwest1607]

Class d is the future. I am running one in my hifi,and just love it.

[@High_Dollar_Alibi]

Class D has come a long way and when you look at just what has improved then you are led directly to the chip sets that have found their way aboard the class-D fleet of front runners. Texas Instruments and Infineon Amp chips and Decoder chips are just a few of several that have redefined what lessoning in D has acheived.

[@dennism1919]

Very nice video, gentlemen. I like your laid-back style! Interesting take on this amp and class D in general. The technology has come a long way. Class D amps are no joke anymore. I was not aware of Elipson until now. This one sounds like a winner. I run an Eversolo AMP-F2 in my desktop system and I love it. It runs the Starke Sound module, and it absolutely delivers the goods for the application. Glad you boys enjoyed this one!

[@JoãoMontes-Palma]

Thanks for your great review and comments 🙏

[@rickp6731]

Great match for the Qualio Audio IQ Speakers ! End-Game Speakers

[@titntin5178]

Great riff again guys, thanks for this. Im seeing more and more class d amps that perform at a high level, and this appears to be a sign of the times. I cant help it, im a class A/B snob because I was raised in a time when you had to be there for higher level performance, but Im having to recalibrate my expectations in light of many reviews, including this one! Thanks again!

[@MrVinylista]

I'm still a Class A and a Class AB snob, but amps like these are snapping at the heels of really good more conventional designs. It's night and day compared to what we were getting 10 years ago from Class D.

[@RigVader]

@@MrVinylista I remember hearing the Nad M2 years ago and running screaming out of the room 😂 (completely kept me from being “class D curious” moving forward)

[@MrVinylista]

@@RigVader Haha. Yes, I wouldn't put those early NAD Class Ds on my shopping list. A shame because their early Class ABs, 30 years earlier, were stellar. I'm now able to listen to many Class Ds and genuinely enjoy the experience. I'd still take Class A or AB if given a choice, but there is real worth in some of the latest designs - and they're making ever more sense with power consumption issues, compactness, etc.

[@bellrobert1978]

I'm sold on class d now. My current Amp is running a B&O Icepower module and Its got all sound quality i'll ever need.

[@razisn]

Thanks for this interesting review. My Musical Fidelity M6SPRX power amp is serving me well but if I were in the market for a new power amp I would certainly look into this.

[@zorbeclegras5708]

I think the conceptor of this amplifer is Daniel Schar from Micromega. He have a huge experience on Digital technology (look for exemple the Micromega trio) and also amplifers. He had work with some other brands like Leedh or Focal (arche). And about Elipson, they also propose turntables, but i recommend you a listen of their speakers, expecially their top of the line like the legacy 3230, or their vintage XLS15. You could have a nice surprise.😉.

[@sdrtcacgnrjrc]

Thanks for the upload 👍🏼 PS the link in the description is not active (and can't be copied from within the youtube app)

[@timothyfreeseha4056]

Got me at the cat reference...so true! And thus no floor standing speakers or Maggie's.

[@richardsaunders6471]

Entertaining thanks. Wonder if they will license the design as they do not appear very active on uk retail outlets.

[@MrVinylista]

If I was them I wouldn't share it with my rivals! Instead, I hope the UK distributor can get them into lots of dealers, to give more people the chance to hear Elipson electronics in person. Their speakers are pretty good, too.

[@nickevans3190]

Really enjoyed your review of this product and very impressed and surprised that you guys rated a D-Class amp however I'm a Class A/B amps many mono blocks but interesting neither the less

[@MrVinylista]

Yep, I still don't think that the best Class D comes close to the best Class A, or even AB, but Class D can be really good in its own right now.

[@AbsoluteFidelity]

@@MrVinylista thats biasness right there. You wouldnt pass a blind test identifying which is which.

[@MrVinylista]

@@AbsoluteFidelity I've done hundreds of blind listening tests - indeed I used to conduct them when I was editor of Hi-Fi Choice - and I would disagree. I think there is clearly a sonic character to each amplifier class. But I also agree with your implication that one cannot simply reduce the sound of an amp to which mode the amp operates in - there are plenty of other factors that play a part.

[@AbsoluteFidelity]

@@MrVinylista that was my point, even each AB amp has their own sonic signature. Sonic signatures dont come from topology if the design wasnt broken to begin with, their duty is just recieve, amplify and spit. Sonic signatures come most from the pre section and not the power section.

[@nickevans3190]

@@MrVinylista many thanks david for your reply and yes i completly but if you say it's the best class D then thts good enough for me, keep up the great work that your doing, by the way how can i contact you directly if poosible???

[@kjbunnyboiler]

Nice review guys, keep up the great work👍. Power consumption will become a factor over the coming years, I wonder if we’ll see the return low power amps and high efficiency speakers.

[@RigVader]

Enjoyable and informative as ever 😊 Any notes on how it does at low volumes?

[@MrVinylista]

Thanks Mr Viking. Yes, it sounded very good at low volumes, obviously more dynamic than many Class Ds which can sound plodding and soggy. Also, as we turned up the volume things didn't change, it seemed very linear and consistent.

[@w4dey]

An excellent riff once again, gents. Now I cannot recall whether you may, or may not have reviewed the Class D Lyngdorf streaming integrated 1200 (RMS 200w into 4o) or 3400 (RMS 400w into 4o) integrated. And, although you may not, as yet, have reviewed the Lyngdorf, I find myself now curious-on the basis of your surprise at the current delivery, grip and sparkle provided by the A2700-how an A2700 might compete against or even compliment (bridge mono mode) the Lyngdorf 3400. Should this meandering thought provoke a desire to review another non-Hypex design class D, then, I for one would be stupidly keen to view that riff. Full disclosure chaps, after a couple of years research into high-end-sounding (whatever that means) class D amps, I’m pretty much decided upon pulling the trigger on buying the 3400 around October this year-hence the message and minor hope for a Lyngdorf 3400 review. Cheers and warm regards, Paul

[@MrVinylista]

Thanks, but no, we haven't heard the Lyndorf - but I've heard good things about it. Thanks for the tip - another one for our very long 'to do' list!

[@rokodrago]

Nice review, very nice, I agree 100% with that of music sounding very good on low budget systems and then sound like crap on hi end other systems, that happens to me specially with Rush Albums ( one of my favorites bands ), i get it , do those albums on CD or streaming sound as good as they should on this system ? regards

[@MrVinylista]

Hi Miguel - yes, we were playing Rush (because Mike) through the pre/power via the Elipson preamp's digi input - and straight into the power amp via my Chord Hugo TT2 DAC - and it sounded very good indeed. In absolute terms, the Elipson combo lacks the transparency of the very best pre/powers I've heard, but it's great at the price and really did unlock the Rush recordings that we played. Most impressive were the dynamics and general musical articulation - it really got into the song and had fun, and didn't sound sterile or matter-of-fact. So many Class Ds that I've reviewed sound like they don't want to be there, but not this one. I've heard those Rush tracks sound better through really high end systems, but this was way better than expected at the price and no excuses needed to be made. Even the phono stage was really good, on the preamp. So an interesting discovery and worth knowing about. We'll try to do some back-to-back comparisons if I can get this combo back from the UK distributor!

[@rokodrago]

@@MrVinylista Indeed WOW ! Thank you

[@josschreur6992]

Did you compare it with the new purifi modules?

[@dkokalanov]

Is it based on an "of-the-shelf" class D amp modules?

[@alenreich5644]

Not even a one second of a presentation of the sound of it... guys?

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Sorry... It sounded really nice. Mike

[@smargo77]

what class d amps are you comparing it to - and when was the last time you heard a class d amp

[@MrVinylista]

Hi Stewart - I've heard, and/or reviewed, and/or owned, pretty much every Class D since the Sony TA-N88B, going back to 1979 - including many of the Devialets, Lyngdorfs, NuForces, Rotels, NADs, Onkyos, etc., launched in the past few decades. On the day that we first auditioned the Elipson, we'd just heard 2 other Class Ds, including a brand new Ncore-based design, in my reference system. My favourite Class D in absolute terms still has to be the Mola Mola Kaluga, designed by Bruno Putzeys, which I reviewed for Hi-Fi News a few years back - that's very expensive, though. The most recent high end Class D we've done is the Marantz PM-10, which was no match for the cheaper Elipson pre/power sonically. We're not saying the Elipson is the outright best Class D ever, but it's certainly the best value we've come across - and way better than most others. I'm not a natural Class D fan, but am beginning to change my mind.

[@framlucasse]

NS-1000, so 100 watts, is it not dangerous for them to use a 400 watts amp ?

[@xcvbxcvb2179]

Depends on how much you push your amplifier. Normally an amp only runs in a few Watts. The excessive amp watts is there for bass control and headroom and occasional disco level dB.

[@jdekong3945]

With such insane levels of power available from these units, are the speakers not vulnerable to being popped fairly easily? I think these ratings are way too over the top for domestic hifi

[@Exgol2005]

Linn Akurate unshut my ears on Class D amplification. Very capable and not the usual sterile, bland flavour

[@ronlysons6750]

Best class D? how does it compare to a £3000 class AB?

[@MrVinylista]

Funnily enough we'll be putting this up against an Exposure 3510 stereo power amp soon, so we'll let you know. If the 3510 integrated is anything to go by, it should be a great bake-off!

[@bigmike5785]

Looks lame.

[@johnd2843]

Thank you, gentlemen! Great review. I was wondering if you've heard the Mola Mola Perca Class D stereo amplifier (parent company is Hypex) and how that compares.

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Not yet! But would like to Mike