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First foray into Class A amp -- recommendations

Thinking of checking out a Class A(or quasi) amp just to see if the sound is really better than a nice Class A/B amp. I want to buy a used amp and my budget is $2500-3000. My current class A/B amp is a McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe, rev. A.

I've been looking at a lot of amps here on A'gon and what I have come up with so far is the Krell KSA-200S, which, from what I read in reviews, operates largely in Class A into 8 ohm loads up to 200 wpc.

Considering that my McCormack is a pretty decent amp, do you expect that the Krell would offer a significant upgrade in my priority areas of bass slam and control, mid range transparency, and natural high frequencies? I also welcome any other suggestions or ideas. Thanks!
mtrot
mitch2
4,008 posts
 
I just switched from Class A Claytons to a fully tricked out Class A/B McCormack DNA-2 LAE with SMc Audio's best current upgrade package including some of Jupiter's new copper foil caps and other neat upgrades.
On SQ alone, the move was mostly lateral with the win going to the SMc amp, which is more open sounding with better dimensionality and excellent tonality. Ergonomically, I like the SMc amp better since it can remain powered up all the time (standby circuit), doesn't generate the high heat, and is very quiet. IMO this amp is more musical than the DNA 500, which I also owned.
At your price range, I would look at the Clayton S100 or M100s and listen to whatever you plan to buy before spending any money.
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jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
08-28-14: Viridian
I like the classic class A amps, Bedini 10/10 and 25/25, Classe DRA25, Levinson ML2, Rappaport Amp 1, etc.

Threshold SA-1's. ;)
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
You'll hear the difference if you can listen to a pair of Parasound JC1 monoblocks, as you can up the class A from 10w to 25w while listening with a switch on the back.

And yes the 20w class a sounds much more "richer" compared to the lower setting.

Cheers George
mtrot OP
804 posts
 
Thanks for all the replies and info! Well, because of space constraints, I am mostly considering stereo amps, which is why I sort of landed on the Krell KSA-200S. I initially was thinking used Pass X250.5, but that runs ~$5000 used and is Class A/B above a certain output level. And, you cannot get any more than 30 wpc in a Pass class A stereo amp(maybe the X250.5 actually sounds better than the Krell KSA-200S, for all I know).

My current speakers are Legacy Audio Signature II which are rated ~93dB efficiency, but I don't want to base an amp decision on that because they are rather old and I may want to get new speakers before long.
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