Thx for the link -- very helpful .. Much more reading to do, and music listening, of course..
From the Gospel according to Aiken: (this was my very question - how can a push-pull be Class A ?
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For audio amplification, a class A amplifier can be either single-ended or push-pull. Now, you might be thinking, how can a push-pull amplifier be class A? Doesn’t one side amplify half the waveform and the other side amplify the other half? Isn’t this why we use a phase splitter? These are common misconceptions. You can, indeed have a true class A amplifier that operates in push-pull mode. Amplifier class has absolutely nothing to do with output stage topology. If the output tubes on either side of a push-pull pair are biased in class A (halfway between cutoff and saturation), then the current in each side will still flow for the full 360 degrees of the input cycle, just in opposing directions. As one tube’s current increases from the midpoint, or idle, bias current, the other tube’s current is decreasing by an equal amount. The output transformer sums these oppositely-phased currents to produce the output waveform in the secondary winding. As one side reaches saturation, the other side reaches cutoff, just as they would in a single-ended class A amplifier. Neither side cuts off at the full, unclipped output power of the amplifier. The output power of a push-pull class A amplifier is exactly twice the output power of a single-ended class A amplifier operating under the same conditions of plate voltage, bias, and effective load impedance.
DeKay (from AudioKarma)