Those are all excellent answers but if you want to know how they sound different, visit a Plinius dealer as some of them are switchable between class A and A/B.
I am still at a loss for comprehending the general sentiment expressed in this thread that class A amps are only beneficial due to lower distortion. Heat dissipation and the efficiency of their use of power are well known, but they are also given credit for having a typically fuller sound and are known for their ability to control bass well. I own very high biased (reportedly) class A amps but can't run them as pure class A. If and when they would switch to A/B is mysterious to me. I don't hear any noticible change in the sound. It is entirely possible they never reach that point, in fact they shouldn't because they supposedly run up to 125 watts class A which would blow my head off except for perhaps dynamic bursts. Does anyone know if the claim that Aragon Palladiums are really class A in the first place. They don't distort much if at all, but they don't run really hot, temperature wise, either. Any one who knows something about these amps and can tell me something other than the canned corporate stuff would be appreciated. Sorry if that is a thread jack. Also why all the advertising about class A capabilities if it doesn't matter?
Wow! They must be HUGE (even with a switching PS)... We're talking about a +500 VA PS per channel for class A... Now that's a nice monster!
BTW, if they claim 125/channel class A, they must be able to back it up; so, you probably DO have 125W one way or another (but it does sound like overkill as you note...)
Even 25 watts of class A will run quite warm. If you want to check if your amp is class A, rig up an ammeter onto the power. While playing music at increasing volumes, when the dial/readout starts to oscillate, that's when it kicks into A/B. For that 25 watts, that would be 0.25 amps and that's loud.
The total output is given as 400 watts into 8 ohms and 1000 watts into 2 ohm, I guess that why the full name is Aragon Palladium 1K. They can't really be running that high in class A they just aren't that big and never run really hot just warm. Look at Avalon's (an agon dealer) listing for the claim. They do have enormous power though, huge headroom, never clip to my ears. I use 936 JM/ Focal Electras with them. They have double 7 or 8 inch woofers and they probably drop their resistance to 4-6 ohm at times. I am suspicious, believe me, but I like them anyway.
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