Yeah, no kidding. Reminds me of a sort of famous story told in the software engineering business. A fellow spent years reverse engineering, refining and improving buggy whips until he finally was able to enter the market with what can only be described as the ultimate buggy whip. About a month before he was able to enter the market folks began buying cars.

I can't help but apply this to many things in HT, including the current level of refinement in CRT technology and 'wiggling things to make sound'.

Someone somewhere will figure out a better way to get traction on air and that will be the end of this buggy whip.

Short of wiggling electrons connected to a neural implant, you have to at least wiggle the air and this, short of an ion driver, requires wiggling something else.

Paul

------------------
the 1derful1

It always seems like the ways to do a thing are the only ways, until someone dreams up a new one. You might be right, but historically speaking there seems to always be something someone overlooked. Maybe not in this case, but maybe so.

Look at the research on marine propulsion systems that have no moving parts - who would have thought it? Not that this idea maps directly to air, or Audio, but there may be things overlooked. I'm not holding my breath though.

I'll just continue to enjoy the music, however it is (re)produced.

Even when I was a kid, every time I played a vinyl record, my patented Wank-O-Meter™ went wild. They seemed _soooo_ primitive. I couldn't have envisoned digital audio - I thought that magnetic tape was the ultimate and only way to reproduce sound. I too am not holding my breath for something new to replace speakers in my lifetime, but knowing my luck, they'll come up with something just about the time my hearing starts to fail from old age

The "Next" speaker which uses random 'wiggles' across a flat surface kind of seems like a diversionary wank to me.

Like they say "If we _used to_ be able to send men to the moon......"

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited December 28, 2002).]

Fast forward seven years...

I really would have thought that Class D amplification would be commonplace by now. No such luck. Costs have still not come down to reasonable levels for good performing digital amplifiers, and they are actually more difficult to find and buy today than they were a couple of years ago.

I'm still waiting for a COOL RUNNING, high performace seven channel BALANCED OUTPUT amplifier that can output at least 125 watts per channel into 8 ohm loads, weigh less than 40 pounds, and cost less than $2000.

Dave K.

Yep, it still tends to be expensive relative to traditional solid state amps. Receivers' needs for cooling and power supply efficiency would seem to create an incentive to make advancements in this regard, and certainly some receivers are using this sort of technology, but it's still something of a niche technology.

In theory, it shouldn't be THAT hard to roll together a 5-channel balanced class D amp using something like the Hypex UcD180 modules for $1000-1500. You basically just need:

an enclosure
odds and ends of connectors (power/neutrik balanced inputs, binding posts, etc)
Switching power supply
Transformer
5 hypex modules

Every time I think about sitting down and building a prototype, Mrs. Ritz comes up with another entry in her honey-do list. Sigh...

There are a few DIY kits out there, though. The attraction of having an amp that can put out gobs of power without the hernia-inducing weight or the wasted heat thrown into the room seems compelling. However, it doesn't appear to be that compelling to manufacturers who typically specialise in high quality on a low budget. The company that's able to produce an audiophile quality multichannel class D amp at an affordable price for the enthusiast market will probably do well.

Yeah, but if you roll it together out of parts and build a DIY kit for $1200, what you've built is comparable to a retail (even internet-direct) $2500 or $3000 amp. Sort of like this thing .

The day will come, I still think it's inevitable. I just have no idea how soon it will come...

A company like Outlaw (or pick a company) that made enough units would certainly be able to enjoy substantially better pricing on the innards and could theoretically pass along some of that savings. I suspect Axiom's cost for that unit is not north of $1200. Would be a nice cottage industry for someone with the time/energy to set up shop.

Best,

I agree. It'll be even more interesting when the parts cost works its way down to around $500 or $750 for the parts...