It sounds like what you want is a dedicated class D power amp section and fully digitized dac/preamp section.
I think you’ll have more success focusing on them as separate components as the power amp will always be in the analog domain
I think you’ll have more success focusing on them as separate components as the power amp will always be in the analog domain
A good amplifier has better than 100 dB SNR. Your ear may have better than 100 dB dynamic range. Your sound system may have a bit less useful range, since your goal isn’t actual to destroy your ears. But 100 dB is a vaguely credible target.
So somehow you’re supposed to get a preamp and an amp, and you’re supposed to connect them, usually with RCA (unbalanced) cables. You’re supposed to get both devices to agree as to what voltage is full scale. And you’re supposed to get a noise floor, on the interconnect, better than -100dBFS. And you are supposed to do this with at least two separate cables plus whatever ground (or neutral) connections exist to both chassis, and this is all done near 60Hz currents that induce a voltage around every loop in question.
This is a tall order. At least the pros use balanced connections.
Or the industry could move to digital interconnects, where the DAC and the amp are connected by short traces on a PCB with a proper ground plane. And full scale on the DAC could be matched to the amp’s input.