Class-A Amplification and 15 Amp Outlet

Hi Jeffrey

Welcome to the wonderful world of Class A.  You're gonna love it.

I have Krell KRS200s, possibly the most power hungry domestic amps ever built.  They draw more than 1kW per side from the wall.  I live in UK where the standard wiring is 13amp.  My Krells have been fine in two different houses on this.  They were also fine on the wimpy French electric system that was designed for the 120 volts they had in the old days before they upgraded.

So I concur with most of the advice here.  Just plug em in.

There are of course some who say a bigger power supply or power cord improves the sound.  Don't listen to them.  Amplifiers aren't like dogs.  They don't eat more food just because you give it to them.  An adequate power supply is all you need.

Well first off I would see what the manufacturer recommends. Secondly you have to remember that anything that makes heat draws big Amps. That is the reason class a amps use more they make heat. As far as sound quality goes you don't want the circuit to ever be the limiting factor I understand that you are limited in your electrical in your house and a good thing you are thinking about it before you spend your money. Don't think the output watt rating of the amplifier has anything to do with it as an example my mark Levinson monoblocks are rated at 150 watts a side and they recommend a minimum of one dedicated 20 amp circuit for each monoblock. Yet there are many HT receivers that have seven channels like seven by one hundred that don't draw near as much as my one channel by 150. By there very nature tube amps don't draw as many amps as a solid state class a operation amp even a class a operation tube amp. A big part of the load on your electrical will be which amp you choose and you are on the absolute right track thinking about what you are doing before spending any Money. Remember that solid state amps are a amp source to control the speaker and tubes are a voltage source that is the main difference. A class a amp only amplifies one half of the wave form the other half is turned into heat so at

idle is is running at full power on one side continuously. That is where the hear comes from. And that heat is a draw on the electrical circuit. The size of the cooling fins on the amp will be a good indication of the power the amplifier draws. The bigger the cooling fins the more power draw. 

Regards Tom

You cannot draw more our of the wall than the circuit can provide that is what the breaker is for so you don't overload the wiring in your home and start a fire. And you can get away with putting Amos that draw to many watts at full draw if you under load them also as the amp doesn't have the power available it needs the sound quality goes down more than a little bit. Keep that in mind. 

Regards Tom

@carlsbad  There does often seem to be a lot of handwaving happening going on sometimes whenever some little bit of quite simple maths is required.  

It is quite relevant to any discussion of power cords, judging from the abundant confusion demonstrated on some threads on the issue, and I've been blessed with having the fortitude to be able to read a few.  And then there are fuses....

@noske  if you think all an amplifier needs is the power to drive the average wattage on the spec sheet, then you can power most amps with a lamp cord.  Unfortunately a little knowledge is sometimes a dangerous thing and figuring out that V=IR does not make you an electrical engineer.  --Jerry