2. amps-preamps
  3. 181164-160104

Ditching Class A Amps due to Heat - Sort of a Poll

A discussion elsewhere about the future of Class A made me wonder how true one statement really is. So the questions are...

Have you done away with your Class A Amp due to Heat concerns?

Will you be moving away from Class A Amp due to Heat concerns?

Will you never buy a Class A Amp due to Heat concerns?

I only have a class A/B unit that does Class A up to 6 watts with almost no heat so really can't speak for those who have used in the past or currently own and run Class A Amps.

brianh61
snapsc
674 posts
 

There may be two ways to think about this… you love your speakers so stick with the amp that brings out their best… or….

 

You are committed to class d so you find the speakers that brings out their best.

Either way you are trying to optimize the amp, speaker, room combination to deliver the sound you are searching for. I suspect that most of us are going to try many combinations… and keep trying them because that is part of the fun.

hilroy48
152 posts
 

I have 2 systems in my house, both Sugden ClassA . Will never own anything but. The upper system are the Sugden MPA-4 mono blocks, and the basement is the IA-4 integrated amp. Both systems have the amps on top so they can dissipate the heat. With a fluke meter and amp clamp, each mono block pulls 3 amps of power when turned on.  Rated output is 165 WPC Pure class A Bliss.

gregchick0
33 posts
 

In the winter Class A is great.  Like one guy said, the total volume, Pun intended, does not add up to much. A flight across the state in a jet, or buying an Amp from "Jyna" is more of a sin.  Be "Amurcian" be Class A. Buy a Coda 11.5 Class A .   If you want, if not, there are many great sounding cool Amps, Pun intended, amps.  

 

terry9
2,333 posts
 

My 4 Class A monoblocks use about 1/2 kW total, which heats the room nicely for most of the year, for less than a dollar a day. Not ideally green, perhaps, but then I don't drive a pickup truck or commute 30 miles either.

dynamiclinearity
256 posts
 

Almost all push/pull class A amps are really very rich class A bias AB amps. For example the Pass 30 watt class A amps are 30 watts class A but they are reall75 watt AB amps. Look at the Stereophile tests. And things get worse as load impedance drops. About the only amps you can be sure are always class A are single ended amps which are class A due to topology and are almost always low power anyway. Then again these amps still run hot.

Perhaps the only push/pull amp that may really be called class A was the old Levison ML2 mono blocks. They were 25 watts/8 ohms, 50 watts/4 ohms and 100 watts/2 ohms and class A all the way down to 2 ohms.

More to discover