So What Is All The Buzz About Class D Amplification?

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Audison Class AB 375 watt amplifier

JL Audio Class D 700 watt amplifier

The Class D amplifier is twice the power and half the size

Well it’s not digital. Class D is a purely analog switching topology. And, Class D is typically 60 percent more efficient than a conventional amplifier. Here is another way to view Class D.

A conventional amplifier may operate at 50 percent efficiency. That means it draws 1000 watts of supply from your charging system to deliver 500 watts output to your speakers. 500 watts is converted to heat and has to be dissipated.

In contrast, a Class D amplifier may operate at over 80 percent efficiency. That means it draws 625 watts of supply from your charging system to deliver 500 watts output to your speakers. Only 125 watts is converted to heat and has to be dissipated.

So a conventional amplifier will generate FOUR times the waste and heat! Consequently, the conventional amplifier will need to have four times the footprint and four times the heatsink mass to maintain the same thermal stability as a Class D amplifier. Again, don’t forget the difference in the load on your charging system.

Are all Class D amplifiers created equal? Absolutely not. It’s just like any other class of amplifier….there are enormous gaps between the sonic performance of one manufacturer’s version and another’s.

You may not know that self-powered Class D speaker arrays have been the norm in prosound applications for some time. Self-powered Class D studio monitors are now used to engineer your music in many recording studios. Class D switching has recently been adopted by some of the most esoteric names in home audio. Think esoteric home audio is a bit conservative in embracing a new technology? You can bank on that. It’s not 1980 anymore. Technology is on the move.

David

Earmark Car Audio

www.earmarkcaraudio.com