Generalizations

We make sense of a complicated world by neatly organizing products, ideas, and concepts into tidy little boxes. Unfortunately, there are consequences to generalizing because we ignore edge cases. It is out in the fringes where the exceptional products and services live. Take for example class D power amplifiers. Most of us have mentally cataloged them in the "powerful yet not quite up to the gold standard of Class AB amplifier" status. We believe them to be lacking in sweetness of top end and rarely do we ascribe openness and transparency to this class of amplifier. While this generalization might apply to many class D amplifiers it surely does an injustice to designs like our own M700 monoblocks, or some of Bruno Putzey's latest work. You can see the problem. There are hundreds of "better thought of" class AB and A amplifiers, and yet the majority pale when compared to exceptional designs from other disciplines. And let's be honest. Within any category, there are only a few exceptions when it comes to performance. Hint: it's why they're called exceptions. If you're interested in exceptional performance you need to choose exceptional products. Our tendency to generalize pulls us away from the fringes and plops us smack dab in the middle where the dull live. My advice is simple. Look to the people who design the products rather than where the common wisdom leads you.