Should I buy a Class A Amp.

Could it be said that Class A amps, like Pass for example, play better on certain types of music? Better classical than rock, for instance?



No.  Class A circuits simply have less distortion due primarily to the fact that there is zero cross-over distortion that is found in A/B amplifiers.  A less distorted signal should sound better for all music types, unless you prefer that sort of thing - which many do in the tube world.

There is no right answer, but from a physics/electical engineering standpoint a Class-A amplifier is a "better" design when it comes to distortion.

Buy the new Rotel 1592 ,

Hi Don

I have owed a couple of KSA 200's and would have to admit I think the sound is great, but I have a slightly strange setup/situation a large room high ceiling thick stone walls and not very efficient loudspeakers (Linn Isobarik - passive)
The problem with these amps is they are now getting on a bit, if you can find one in good useable condition it is likely to be expensive. I agree with some of the other views expressed that the ones worth having were the KSA series, if you have to go through a recapping procedure as I tried to, I found it difficult to find someone to supply the correct grade of capacitors and the cost of them alone was going to be over £1500.00 here in the UK plus labour and possibly other parts being required as well.
I rather reluctantly at first replaced it with a Mark Levinson No. 532 Amp, this is not class A but I have been very pleased with it indeed.
For me it does all that the Krell did and a lot more and has the added advantage that you are not generating the same amount of heat either, I was told that my KSA200 was sucking 2.2Kw of power when just turned on!
The Levinson runs much much cooler I personally find the sound at least if not more powerful that the Krell but with even more detail, I just can't recommend it highly enough.
If you want real grunt with great detail and a fine sound it's the way to go in my book!

Matthew Lewis 

Hi don..you're probably overwhelmed with all the responses to your question. .I've been on the same journey with my audio gear..my first setup was a really old yamaha integrated with some phase tech speakers. .then I bought a old used onix amplifier and some rega ela loud speaker's. .I was interested in tube amps having grown up around them so I had the good fortune of doing a demo in my home for a week..the best way to buy audio gear in my opinion. I bought a used cary sli80. It sounds awesome and looks cool as hell..you can get a smoking deal on them and they are really versatile. .you can run many power tubes and run it in 40 or 80 watt mode,I rolled the capacitors in mine and wow what a difference. .that's my two cents. Best of luck!

the only way I would go class A is if you need an extra room heater.