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Anyone still prefer Class A/B amps over Class D?

#441
shoot-r said:
My experience with the "4" class D Micros I owned and gigged before returning to heavy, old school heads.

I was early on the Micro bandwagon, trying to save alittle on weight.

#1....was a G.K. MB2-500.
Liked the over-all tone, but it would run out of steam on louder, bigger stage jobs.
After a years use it started having problems.
G.K. serviced it and I found it a new home.

#2....a Ampeg PF-500.
It lasted 30 seconds into it's first power-up and burnt out.

#3....Ampeg replaced the first PF-500 with a brand new PF-500.
It lasted roughfully 5 hours of use and it to burnt-out just as the first one had.
Liked it's tone while it worked.

Had to have a dependable head to work with.
Bought a inexpensive, brand new, heavy, old-school, Hartke LH1000 to get me through a couple of months of jobs.
WOW....brought back that "slam and punch" my ears didn't realize was missing.
After a couple years of using the LH1000 I thought I'd give the D's another try.
Sold the LH1000.

#4....G.K. MB-800.
PLENTY of power, dependable the little over a year I gigged with it.
I just could never seem to bond with it.
I was constantly turning the knobs looking for the big, ole' heavy head sound of the LH1000.

Then my ears had a opening....a friend lent me his old Mesa M-6 Carbine head.
Had the slam and punch of the Hartke LH1000 with a much clearer bottom and a "sparkle" on the leading edge of the note with the feeling of fast and un-ending available power, plus, my friend wanted to trade even-up for my G.K. MB-800.

I've had the M-6 for a couple of years now, liked it so much I've now got two of them!

I'll still give the micros a try, but it's going to take something absolutely "GREAT" to get my ears to part with these Mesa's....



....
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(A update on my post from 2017.)

I "did" find a class D head that pulled me away from the Mesa M-6 Carbines.

Ended up being a Mesa Subway 800+!
 
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#442
My ears still prefer class A/B. I know this always sets off the debate that power is power, but keep in mind that this thread is titled "Does anyone still prefer class A/B over Class D", and not "Is class A/B better than class D", so given that we are just talking personal preference, I will say that I still prefer class A/B.

And for anyone who thinks that the power section doesn't make a difference, try this experiment. Get hold of a good class A/B power amp, (my standard is the Crest CA9, but even something like an old Eden, or GK amp will work) and run the effects out of your class D amp into the Class A/B power section and see which you prefer. There is no doubt that the benefits of class D are numerous and that there are many wonderful sounding class D amps out there, but if we are just talking about personal preference without regard to weight, then my ears still prefer class A/B.
 
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#444
Katana Bass amps are class A/B

I just did a literal side-by-side with the Katana 110 and Rumble 100 (Class D)

The Katana was louder and more responsive than the Rumble, by far.

I preferred the Katana tone as well

now to decide on which Katana

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#446
Zoot H Rollo said:
Katana Bass amps are class A/B

I just did a literal side-by-side with the Katana 110 and Rumble 100 (Class D)

The Katana was louder and more responsive than the Rumble, by far.

I preferred the Katana tone as well

now to decide on which Katana
Click to expand...
Of course the tone profiles are completely different (by intent) between the Katana and the Rumble, which has nothing to do with class D.
 
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#451
Zoot H Rollo said:
I just did a literal side-by-side with the Katana 110 and Rumble 100 (Class D)

The Katana was louder and more responsive than the Rumble, by far.
Click to expand...

My guess would be a good dose of psycho-acoustics at work. Boss has a way of making everything sound great at lower volumes. Things like compression and extensive deployment of DSP technology can create an amazing illusion of loudness and power at low volumes. My dad has a Roland Cube 'Street Amp' - 2 x 2.5W into twin (stereo) 6.5" Neo speakers, 6 x AA batteries, 6 amp simulators and a few digital effects. Roland claims up to 15h from a set of fresh alkalines, so it is reasonable to assume that the power amplifiers are Class D but I don't know for sure. Cranked up in a small space like a living room it does amazing things with an old Strat! Behind closed doors and close-miked in a studio it could no doubt spin incredible webs of deception. But IME those 'faked' tones and sounds do not scale - a bit like the loudness button on domestic sound systems - above certain volumes the illusion falls over and you have to go back to 'normal means'. Neither Boss nor Fender provides data on the speaker/cab sensitivity, but I imagine both Boss and Fender have made appropriate trade-offs in that department. My guess is that cranked towards the top the Katana would soon run out of steam or start to sound quite 'unbalanced' or even obnoxious, whereas the Rumble will just cruise on by. Which is fine. As @agedhorse already stated, the design objectives (led hopefully by different target use cases) are not the same. All you have to do is pick the one that best fits your purpose. But none of it has anything to do with amplifier topology/class. YMMV
 
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#453
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I haven’t had the chance to do an A/B comparison between my Crest CA9 and my new Class-D Yamaha PX5. So, I’ll say at this time, my CA9 is still my heaviest hitter.

But I have briefly tried my GED-2112/PX5 into my pair of Mesa PH212’s at home, and I have zero doubts that I’ll have trouble hearing myself on a big stage. :thumbsup:

I’m gigging a lot more lately. All have taken place on smaller stages in medium sized rooms, and my Aguilar TH500/GS112x2 setup has been all that I’ve needed.

In fact, I supplied my Aguilar setup for a tribute to a close friend. One guy plugged into it and cranked it up louder than I thought it could go. He completely drowned out the rest of the band in the process, and had me nervously watching for smoke.

Side Note: I’ll never let that guy plug into my amp again.
 
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#454
Arthur U. Poon said:
View attachment 4976117 View attachment 4976118 View attachment 4976119 I haven’t had the chance to do an A/B comparison between my Crest CA9 and my new Class-D Yamaha PX5. So, I’ll say at this time, my CA9 is still my heaviest hitter.

But I have briefly tried my GED-2112/PX5 into my pair of Mesa PH212’s at home, and I have zero doubts that I’ll have trouble hearing myself on a big stage. :thumbsup:

I’m gigging a lot more lately. All have taken place on smaller stages in medium sized rooms, and my Aguilar TH500/GS112x2 setup has been all that I’ve needed.

In fact, I supplied my Aguilar setup for a tribute to a close friend. One guy plugged into it and cranked it up louder than I thought it could go. He completely drowned out the rest of the band in the process, and had me nervously watching for smoke.

Side Note: I’ll never let that guy plug into my amp again.
Click to expand...
If that was my rig I would've been in control of the volume settings. I'm glad your rig survived the experience.
 
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#455
Sparky Mark said:
If that was my rig I would've been in control of the volume settings. I'm glad your rig survived the experience.
Click to expand...

I definitely learned my lesson this last time. Never again.

I used to supply my Demeter/CA9 and my Ampeg 4-10” for a weekly Jam Night at the same venue better than 15 years ago. The “Jammers” back in those days were very respectful with provided gear.
 
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#457
BogeyBass said:
the " led sleds" are actually not that heavy and majority id say go for weight/ size benefits with class d. i find good old bjt transistors or mosfet class A/B amplifiers affordable and very powerful in used market. some known for breaking some known for being well known work horses. then there is absolutely ancient quasi complementary amplifiers using incredible ancient transistors that sound absolutely lovely, incredible reliable and have amazing tone, clean and being pushed. AB all day
Click to expand...
Yes ! HH - TE and Carlsbro old style 'Mosfet heads' ;-)
 
#458
I have a TT800 and it takes a back seat to no amplifier I've ever used. It's not exactly precisely what I want/hear in my head but it does everything it was designed to do very well and has been 100% reliable. I think pretty close to three years I've had it. And it's 2 ohm capable to boot.

I've had three class ab amps - 2 made by GK and a Markbass (a combo head from back when they ran ab) fail on me over the years, so I can tell you it would be hard to rationalize chasing that down.
 
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#459
I like my Demeter at low volume.
Its the best Class D amp I've used.
The tone is nice but it doesnt do it for me when I want more volume. So when I'm pushing from 12 o clock on the dial, its losing it. I haven't gone much beyond 1:30 but its basically running out of guts.
My Handbox appears louder, never run out of steam at the same point on the dial and hits harder.
I'd say I prefer the pre amp on the Demeter but it loses big to the Handbox when I'm pushing to gig volume.
 
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