New SD amps sound quality

[soundbit]

I have to through this out there. How do the new SD amps sound say compared to the Xenon amps? I gather the SD are NOT triple Darlington outputs but over how do they sound in comparison? Or is that not a fair comparision?

[Eric D]

I wish I could comment on them, but I have never had the chance to listen to one yet.

I will say this though, if PG marketing is claiming they sound great, then I feel we should hold them to their claim and the amps should sound every bit as good as any others they have produced.

Being full range Class D, you are correct, they are not Triple Darlington. They are a whole different beast, built in a whole different way (which really makes me think they won't sound the same as other PG amps). I doubt they sound bad, just not the same (could actually be a good thing, it all depends).

[dwnrodeo]

I have to through this out there. How do the new SD amps sound say compared to the Xenon amps? I gather the SD are NOT triple Darlington outputs but over how do they sound in comparison? Or is that not a fair comparision?

I have done a direct swap A/B comparison between an SD500.4 and a Xenon 200.4 actively powering a Seas 4.5" midrange and Seas tweeter. Disregarding obvious power differences, the biggest difference is the noise floor on the SD was noticeably higher than the Xenon. How noticeable? I had to stick my ear fairly close to the tweeter to hear an audible "hiss" on both amps with the SD being audible at a further distance than the Xenon. Musically the Xenon sounded better to me. I admit, I do NOT have golden ears and can't comment on specifics in regards to why it sounded better, it just did. I'm not saying the SD sounded bad by any means, the Xenon just sounded better. This test was conducted by setting line driver gains to clipping using an oscilloscope and having the gains on each amplifier at their lowest setting. I also have a friend who is using an SD1300.5 to power a set of HAT components and 1-12" sub and he is completely satisfied with the results.

[soundbit]

Very nice dwnrodeo. I am looking at the SD just cause of their size. I need to fit 3 xenon amps in a fairly small area. The SD will easily fit where I need them to but I am concerned I will be losing that wonderful PG we all love by doing a full range class D.
Also, could some of the sound difference you heard be from the 500.4 having less power than the 200.4?

[dwnrodeo]

Very nice dwnrodeo. I am looking at the SD just cause of their size. I need to fit 3 xenon amps in a fairly small area. The SD will easily fit where I need them to but I am concerned I will be losing that wonderful PG we all love by doing a full range class D.
Also, could some of the sound difference you heard be from the 500.4 having less power than the 200.4?

I'm sure the power differences played a factor in the overall sound quality between the two. If you're really concerned about the absolute best sound quality and have the room for it, keep the Xenon for the highs and run the SD for lows.

[Eric D]

That is a very good discovery on the SD amps. Being full range Class D, it would make sense that they have higher noise floor but until you mentioned it, the thought never crossed my mind.

Now this just makes me want to try one even more to see how noticeable it is.

[dwnrodeo]

That is a very good discovery on the SD amps. Being full range Class D, it would make sense that they have higher noise floor but until you mentioned it, the thought never crossed my mind.

Now this just makes me want to try one even more to see how noticeable it is.

If my SD1300.5 wasn't such a pain in the ass to remove and put back I'd send it to you for testing since you're fairly close to me.