Recommend Class a Amp


This past weekend I purchased some Infinity QLS-1 Speakers and the gentlemen I bought them from was powering them with a Krell KSA-250. I was impressed, how the Krell drove those speakers. Most of my amps are tube and I would like to get me a keeper used well thought of class A solid state amp. I would like to stay in the Under thew 3K price range. Look forward to your recommendations.
robmag
KSA aren't class A amps on the first place. 250wpc class A amp would be required to run in separate room preferably Freon cooled. it has pretty good range for class A power and that's why it can also work as local heater for room up to 220sqf.
So maybe you'd reconsider your objective..
I was hooked up on class T amps more than decade ago and never looked back. The way they sound to me is most natural and clean with no limitation to reproduce truly uncompressed recording material at any volume levels seriously. It's also cost effective as well. Try for very cheap BelCanto S300 and you would be surprised it won't be worse than with KSA 250.
"03-26-15: Czarivey
KSA aren't class A amps on the first place."

Actually, it may be. As long as the load doesn't drop below 3ohms (its either 3 or 4 ohms. I'm pretty sure its 3), the amp will be running in class a. So with the right speaker, it can be a class a amp.

Stereophile boys say you need around 200 watts and good current drive for the babies. That means a big solid state amp if you want the Class A sound as well.
The only one I can think of that would be a reasonable price S/H is a pair of Parasound JC1 monoblocks.
These have the wattage you need and more, but they also have a switch on the back that you can switch to a much higher Class A bias to give you that oh so sweet Class A sound to the upper-mids/highs and a hot heatsinks to boot, but you'll still have the big Class A/B wattage for the bass and lower bass.
And then you can switch it off to lower the bias and power consumption (cooler running) when you just need it for background music.

PS: Zd542, the old fan cooled KSA50 and KSA100 were Class A all the way to clipping. But are under wattage power for these speakers, unless you listen to low to medium levels only and sedate music as well.

Cheers George
Class A can be expensive, especially if you are looking for 200 wpc. In the ~$3K range, you are probably limited to older amps like the Krell KSA-250, Plinius SA-250 mk IV, CODA System 200, Threshold SA/12e or T800. Though these would probably need to be re-capped, if not already done.

Newer options such as Pass Labs, Clayton Audio, etc., would be well above your $3K price point. I would think that if you need that much power, 200 wpc, you would be better served by buying a Class A-A/B designed amp that may run rich in Class A, maybe up to about 25-50 wpc in Class A before sliding into Class A/B.
Another possibility might be the second generation Krell KSA 200, which I believe ran mostly in Class A. But be prepared to have the amp re-capped, if not done already, as Jmcgrogan2 mentions.