Have used PS AUDIO and Peachtree
v happy esp with z Peachtree 150
v happy esp with z Peachtree 150
Class A into Class AB
What is the goal of a designer who makes intergrated amps that have class A for x amount of watts before it goes into class AB? Are there any examples of this being implemented well? I get this feeling that it’s kind of just a marketing thing...where people think they are getting some quality class A without the very high price tag. I was particularly looking at the CODA CSiB amps where you have three choices of how much of your first watts are class A. I have since found a few other respectable brands that implement this as well. I have yet to come across anyone who has heard much of difference between AB amps and one’s that’s state "first X amount of watts..." Class A/AB. Anyone have any experience with these kind of integrated amplifiers? Just looking for a little bit of understanding as I’m trying to upgrade my amplifier.
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Class A/AB and class AB are the same thing. At lower powers the amp is class A and at higher power class B. How much class A depends on the amount of bias and can range from less that a watt to lots of watts which is rare. But even a low efficiency speaker say 82 dB plays a continuous 82 dB with a watt and that's fairly loud so an amp with just 1 watt class A goes out of class A only on peaks which last only a very short time. So class AB amps are in class A most of the time. Most amps even those costing 6 figures are class AB and well designed class AB amps sound awfully good these days and have more head room than pure(never go into class AB) class A amps which are extremely rare except for single ended amps which must be class A and single ended amps are very low power. By the way almost all push/pull class A amps go into AB at very high powers especially into low impedance loads. For instance Class A Pass amps go into AB. But they only give you the class A rating in their ads. They produce twice as much power usually total but it's AB then. The only push/pull true class A amp I know of was he old Mark Levinson ML2 which was 25 watts class A into 8 ohms and still class A at 100 watts into 2 ohms. Then there's the sliding bias amps which could be called class A but some argue they aren't true class A. I'm not going into that discussion. |
Hello, It is not marketing hype. From what I understand the class A/B switches on and off. This lets you have more watts with less amps. It is more efficient and therefore runs way cooler. Most designers bring in the class A just above or below that point where the switching is so you have better sound and don’t notice the gap. So at normal or regular listening levels you are in Class A. When you go higher or the music becomes more dynamic the class A/B takes over. |
just to set folks straight that may not be properly informed https://www.audioholics.com/audio-amplifier/amplifier-classes |
If you play in class A at 8 watt with high efficiently speakers ( > 96 db) than , in your listening room, the music is playing loud . You do have a beautiful high-mid-low . If you measure the volume in your listening room,you will be around 4-6 watts : many thinks, the amp performs much more. ; so , most of the time, you play in class A, and I’m totally agree with what the previous ones say about class A properties: heat…… |
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