What are the advantages to a Class A amp & what are the trade offs?

@sfischer1 I own a Baratza Forté coffee grinder, a smart scale, and a programmable kettle. My coffee is pretty consistent from day to day. I watch my coffee to water ratio, you know. I use the Kalita pour over system, it’s simple and it works well. An app on my iPhone that pairs with the scale leads me through the steps and provides a timer.

Every office I’ve ever worked in has had atrocious coffee. I used to bring in my own beans and a little French press to make a fresh cup so I didn’t have to drink burned coffee or that awful Keurig stuff.

I don’t think a shared stereo works in the work environment. The most obnoxious people will blast crap all the time. Music is a personal choice, not a group one. I worked in one place where they blasted horrible dance music or Stevie Wonder. Stevie is cool, but every day, all day? I used to unplug that stupid speaker whenever I had the chance. We were all trying to listen to our own headphones anyway, nobody cared to listen to the house music. 

The Gryphon Colosseum allows me to select from three bias levels but it does not slide between one or the other automatically. Medium bias is 70w Class A. I think vocals sound absolutely amazing on this amp. 

We live in good times. We’ve got great gear options and an easy way to stream a huge amount of music. 

@larrykell 

Coffee is another area that the masses could care less about. Give em Dunkin Donuts and they think they have the best. I used to take my own coffee on vacation & when we went to see family. I'm sure They thought I was a coffee snob. I'd offer them some but they just didn't get it since it didn't taste like theirs. I never did get into the expresso though. I don't really know enough about it

A big advantage of Class A amps is that by the standards of any AB amp they have a hugely overbuilt power supply and they can drive low impedance loads without faltering.

Yes they should have, but not all have, I’ve seen them with supplies that are close to saturation in the Class-A idle state, which means there’s nothing left for any Class-B transients, so they sound like a limp ****.

This amp I have here can do 3-100w user adjustable of pure Class-A, then to 180w Class-B, and it has the power supply to back it up, 5kva transformer with 300,000uf of supply caps. But it also weighs close to 60kg
https://ibb.co/Yp956yN
https://ibb.co/qW4qSc8
https://ibb.co/rdKwDgc

Cheers George

I have a Nelson Pass designed Threshold 400A class A driving a pair of Kef LS 50's in one of my systems.  I've owned this amp since new. Recently the capacitors and power switch were replaced and an Anticables level 3. something power cord were added. (The power cord made more of a difference than I expected.) The little Kef's sound  effortlessly clean with this amp. I  listen to this set up for hours without fatique. Is it because the amp is class A or because the tremendous power reserve - probably some of both. 

At the end of the day, it is your ears that decide.  Class A has certain very distinct attributes that factor into its choice.

I have reasonably inefficient speakers (planars) that require a bit more power / current than is typically availabke from Class A amps.   

If I were running efficient speakers I would most certainly audition both Class A SS as well as tube amps and lwt my ears and wallet make the choice.

The beauty of this hobby is the myriad of choices we have on the journey.  Let no one criticize what your ears tell you as it is your money and your preferences based upon informed (read as having auditioned the choice) decision.