Consider GamuT D200 series amplifiers, all iterations have excellent tonality (‘class A like’), are detailed and very musical. 200/400/700 WPC mates with most all loudspeakers.
suggestion for a SS class AB amp that sounds like a class A ... if such a thing exists
Looking for an amplifier below 2K for my Altec 620A (99 db efficiency). My actual amp is a Sugden A25B, which has 34 watts/chanel in class AB. Although quite musical, it lacks transparency and details. Of course, the best amplifier would be tube or class A but I'm trying to avoid these because of the heat and the electricity bill (my amp is on all day long). My short list include :
NOTE : please, no class D since I'm not familiar with it (and pretty skeptic too).
- Audio by Van Alstine Set-120
- Ayre AX 7e (used)
- Sugden Mystro (class AB)
- Benchmark AHB2 (used)
NOTE : please, no class D since I'm not familiar with it (and pretty skeptic too).
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- 61 posts total
a SS class AB amp that sounds like a class AThis thread is going nowhere. As it doesn’t address the OP’s thread title Nothing repeat nothing! solid state A/B (low bias A) sounds like a 20w> high bias Class-A amp. As there is no xover distortion in Class-A when the top and bottom transistors switch over from each other, because they’re still both biased into Class-A. The transistor xover distortion is most noticeable in the highs, (strings, piano, tops of female high notes etc) on a low bias Class-A/B amp when it switches to B, after a couple of watts. You need around 20w of Class-A to make it disappear on a A/B amp, then it gets too hot because of the rail voltage to get it to be 100w in Class-B. The A’s heat goes up exponentially. compared to just having a 20w class-A push pull with no Class-B So go back to my first post, bi-amp with a simple 20w Class-A for the highs (no B and not very hot). Then an A/B for the bass. https://forum.audiogon.com/posts/2065044 PS: last weekend we listened to Wilson Alexia MkII’s driven by a Class-A/B Gryphon Antillion Evo (it’s got 3 Class-A bias settings 10w 30w and 100w, switchable on the fly), we were listening mainly to streaming v cd, and at the end of the session we decided to go from 30w to 100w, all of us heard the improvement within seconds, and felt the room heat up after 1/2hr. (Didn’t change the streaming v cd outcome though). Cheers George |
Thank you all for your suggestions ... they are greatly appreciated ... I am researching each of them and added to my list the Belles Aria, Plinius 8100, Portal Panache and Odyssey khartago ... Apart from the Belle Aria, all have 100 watts / channel (or more) ... as my speakers are 100 db efficient, I won't use all that power ... my current amp is 34 watts / channel and it can drive my Altec hard enough ... I'd rather have a great sounding amplifier of 50 watts (plus or less 10 watts) than a 100 watts (or more) ... thanks! |
- 61 posts total