Class A multi-channel amp?

A digital amp is not class A at all - it is class D or higher. Gigantic difference in every way. The digital amps will not get hot, hence the 500W x 5.

You could always get 3 2-channel class A amps! That would do it. YOu probably won't find any in one box due to obvious thermal issues, and if you do, I wouldn't buy it! Arthur

I have to agree with Arthur. That is, an amp with 5 channels running at 100 watts RMS in Class A would melt the shelf that it was resting on let alone make the chassis glow !!!

Having said that, i sincerely doubt if there is a multi-channel amp that will provide the sonics that you are looking for. As mentioned above, you'll probably have to resort to several individual amps that combine to give you the desired amount of channels. You simply can't cram all the support circuitry, power supplies and heatsinking for multiple channels with that level of sonics into one box. No matter what you do on a multi-channel amp, you're going to get cross-talk between the channels due to using a common power cord. This is true even with amps that use dedicated transformers for each channel. I don't know of any company that makes a 5 channel amp that uses 5 separate power cords. Sean
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Sean...Digital amps (like the Carvers I just bought) are often described as having Class A, and Tube amp sonic characteristics. What is the basis for this? Perhaps the characteristic spectrum of harmonic distortion is similar.

I am at the boundry of electric service by two utilities: Mass Electric, and Western Mass Electric. Would my channel separation be improved if I plugged one amp into each grid?

Classe amps run in "Class A" mode during normal listening levels (around 30-40watts) then switch over to "Class AB". So the CAV-180 or CAV-500 from Classe would work....Also, I'm not sure but Pass Labs might make one...

El: Simulating tube sonics in a SS piece of gear typically means slower response times and less control of the drivers. This softens the leading edge of instruments, making them sound "less aggessive" or "more enjoyable" ( especially with typical digital recordings ). At the same time, you end up with a rounder, warmer bass. This tends to fill in the lack of body that many hard, cold and sterile digital recordings suffer from. Both of these are colourations related to poor technical performance but could be pleasurable to listen to.

As far as the distortion characteristics of the amp go, i think that John Curl measured phenomenally high levels of distortion on both odd and even orders, making this more like a poorly designed Integrated Circuit ( IC ) based component than a tube or Class A design.

While i may sound like i'm attacking / belittling these amps, the bottom line is that you like and are enjoying them. Who cares what i or anyone else thinks. Sean
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