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

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.

Are you just looking for the lowest distortion?  You cannot determine sound quality by class alone.  We build pure class A mono blocks and hybrid power amplifiers.  It comes down to design implementation and the quality of parts.  If you want a good power amp for the price, try out the BEL power amps. Even the early models have a beautiful sound.

Happy Listening.

 The class matter less that the design details which matter less than the room controls over the amp/speakers coupling ...

I own the Luxman AXII - love the sound, luxman says it’s 30 watts pure class A, but reviews have measured that it’s 30 watts pure class A and after that A-B up to 90 watts. I don’t know who is right, but it sounds great and has enough power for my Harbeth 30.2s, 

It does get hot, though not as bad as tubes. I would say that if you’re looking at new inefficient speakers, you may want more power, although I have not found that to be a problem with the Harbeths. 

I doubt there is anything for $5k used for what you want to accomplish. Just because you are planning to downsize doesn't mean that you are ready to downgrade. 

As others mentioned, I wouldn't pay much attention to whether it is class A or class AB to begin with. It should sound right with your current and future speakers.