ARCO DB 510

[Jaromir]

Hello,
I'm just curious if anybody has any experience with one of these - it's a small and light (about 20lb) combo with one 10inch speaker.
It has 500W into 4 ohms class D power. It also has some great features like 2Mohm input, mute switch and phase reverse! So it looks like somebody was thinking...
It's made by CAD Audio in Denmark.
I'm only afraid of the class D amp a bit...
As we all know, all the great features mean nothing if we don't like the basic sound. So, could anybody compare this unit with something more familiar like the GK MB combos or AI?
Thank you!

[robgrow]

Originally Posted by Jaromir

Hello,
I'm just curious if anybody has any experience with one of these - it's a small and light (about 20lb) combo with one 10inch speaker.
It has 500W into 4 ohms class D power. It also has some great features like 2Mohm input, mute switch and phase reverse! So it looks like somebody was thinking...
It's made by CAD Audio in Denmark.

Unfortunately I have not heard of these amps before.

Originally Posted by Jaromir

I'm only afraid of the class D amp a bit...
As we all know, all the great features mean nothing if we don't like the basic sound. So, could anybody compare this unit with something more familiar like the GK MB combos or AI?
Thank you!

There are good and bad sounding class D amp designs just like there are good sounding analog (class A or AB) designs. Class D is not good or bad in itself, although it is certainly much more efficient than even the best analog designs (which of course is class D's main advantage).

Just to name one example, Acoustic Image amps all use class D power amps, and they are very popular with many people here on TB. Overall I'd say there's just no reason to suspect the sound quality of an amp just because it is a class D design.

[Jaromir]

Of course, you are right. One need to hear the amp, that's the only way to make any judgements.
I was told by the CAD company that they only distribute these combos to Scandinavian countries, later this year they want to expand into more European countries. So I guess my question can only answer some Scandinavian at the moment...