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Higher-End Class A/B vs. Class A Integrateds

I’ve been thinking about downsizing from separates to an integrated amp. I’ve noticed that some companies have both class A and class A/B amps that are both pretty expensive such as Luxman for example. Hegel seems to be well received and they’re not true class A as far as I know.

I was kind of under the impression that class A was better than class A/B due to lower distortion yet again, there are some well reviewed class A/B amps that are as pricey as some class A amps.

To be clear, it’s really not the price I’m concerned about. It’s the fact that some integrated amps $5000 and up are still only Class AB.

How do these higher priced class AB amps sound in comparison to true class A amps?

nicktheknife
nicktheknife OP
194 posts
 

I bought my Sonus Faber speakers at Audio Concepts in Dallas.  They sell Luxman, D'Augostino, Boulder, McIntosh, Naim and Moon by Simaudio.

I'll have to try and see if they can set me up with a direct comparison using my speakers.

jeffreyw's avatar
jeffreyw
268 posts
 

@nicktheknife 

I would caution you on the pure Class A Luxman integrateds (20W & 30W) driving a difficult load/ low sensitivity speaker. They will produce very little bass to the extent that you would think a component is broken. I tried to power a pair of KEF Ref 1Metas with a 590 AXII, those speakers ate the integrated up. Their M10X is a different story though and produced prodigous bass. 

nicktheknife OP
194 posts
 

@jeffreyw 

Thanks for the advice.  I may want to upgrade my speakers sometime and I would like an amp that can drive my future speakers without having to upgrade the amp ... again.

roncagg
61 posts
 

The Sugden class A integrated amps sound wonderful and are reasonably priced for their sound quality, especially when bought preowned. I downsized from LTA separates (a lot more expensive), and in my system I didn’t lose anything, very happy (running the amp into Revival Audio Atalante 3 standmounts, excellent).

erik_squires
16,056 posts
 

I was kind of under the impression that class A was better than class A/B due to lower distortion yet again, there are some well reviewed class A/B amps that are as pricey as some class A amps.

 

There are some megabuck Class A amps I would never trade my A/B Luxman integrated for. The theory is that Class A amplifiers have less distortion right at the zero crossing point, but in absolute distortion terms it is not always the case that Class A has less distortion, it just doesn’t suffer from one particular challenge. I find the peculiarities of an amp to be much more important than the class. Also, I can’t really imagine living with a large class A amplifier due to the power waste.

There are even some Class D designs I like a lot more than some famous Class As.

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