Even though Class D switching amplifiers are relatively new to consumer electronics, they are receiving attention; thankfully at least
some of it from the engineering (as opposed to marketing) departments.
NAD has decided to enter into the fray with its Masters Series M2 Direct Digital Amplifier, a
200 250-Watt stereo offering that can accept a PCM signal directly and run it through a digital volume control before making the transition to analog current to drive your speakers. Don't worry -- it plays nicely with your other components -- there's also an ADC stage so that the unit can accept analog inputs from traditional preamplifiers. The press release touts NAD's work on the feedback stage, and there's nary a mention of
ICEpower modules, so it's a good bet that the M2 is NAD's own design and not a repackaged reference kit. Sounds great, but the $6,000 price leaves us sobbing -- thankfully, this is NAD, so you can expect the tech to move down the line in the future. Hit the link for the full details.
posted May 24th 2009 10:19AM
There is some serious competition north of $5k. The extra-awesome Bryston B100SST/DA comes to mind. Point well taken about NAD's ability to translate technology into their more affordable platforms; they really know how to spread the fun around to listeners with wallets of all sizes. I look forward to some new NAD receivers with utterly stupid power output. Well implemented class D on-board amplification could go a long way towards closing the gap between integrateds and separates.
That's a TON of cash for a sub kilo-watt 2-channel class-D amp...
I bet my 128Kbps/44.1kHz mp3 collection will sound GREAT through this!
Sweet, the old M3 is a terrific amplifier. I have to get this a listen even though that usually drains my wallet far to often. We can only hope that class D amps become more common place, I think that it is an interesting technology.
I'm one of the designers of this technology at Diodes Zetex, and what NAD is delivering here is derived from the prototyping system we used during development (Xilinx-based). This gives them some head start over the volume production (which will be sold to other brands as well), so if you want it right now, you have to pay the price (early adopter). If you can wait, you'll get the volume production stuff (ASIC-based) later. I won't comment on how much later, since that depends a lot on design-in time from the OEMs; we have reference boards ready and out at customers for some months.
The volume product will go mostly into lower power systems. There might be other tradeoffs as well, DNR drops to about 115dB for single ended output stages (NAD's design is BTL).
Good short description of NAD's new M2 Direct Digital Amp, but one point needs correction. The power rating is not 200 Watts, but 250 Watts to each of two channels at 4 or 8 Ohms continuous power, and 500 Watts IHF Dynamic power.
Thanks - fixed!