Pure class A amplifiers = "slow" amplifiers?

My experience is that Class A amps provide a fuller sound which I believe is more realistic to the original performance. Class AB or Class B amps add crossover distortion when they transition from Class A to B. I believe this sounds like adding an edge to the music, especially transients, which accentuates the leading edge of the transient at the expense of the follow-thru. This sounds "sharper" or faster. However this leads to listener fatigue over time and is particularly noticable on "hot" recordings which can sound almost unlistenable in some instances. Obviously there are more variables which make an amp sound different than another one. I heard a demonstration once of amps whose only difference was at what point they transitioned to Class B i.e. at 5 watts or full Class A. Class AB sounded as I described above. I much preferred the Class A. It wasn't a night and day difference but was noticable.

Guidocorona, LOL.

Other than making sure your power is enough to command the A1's, maybe the accuphase pre is adding some fudge...nice sounding but not speed racer! Try a used Krell stereo amp with a KCT...should be warm and fast.

Guidocorona...Believe it or not audio can be speeded up without the tonal change that results from overspeeded playback...but no using a simple amplifier. It takes some digital processing.

It is a fact that our sense of hearing can recieve and understand speech faster than our tongues can wag. Alarm messages, for example to airplane pilots, can be speeded up.

Class A (in general) will produce less distortion than any other form of operation. The human ear uses odd-ordered harmonics as loudness cues; in particular the 5th, 7th and 9th. Although only found in trace amounts in most amplifiers, even very subtle increases in these harmonics are readily noticed due to the way our ears work.

We perceive the increase as brightness/hardness.

I would not surprise me in the least to find that some people hear that as 'speed' (to me the word speed refers to the risetime or slew rate of the amp) or bandwidth.

If those harmonics are not altered the amplifier will be more relaxed or 'laid back', which is **not** to say that there is a coloration- in fact. there is *less* coloration.

In transistor amplifiers some of the fastest risetimes are manifested in Class A amplifiers. This is true of tubes too, although to really get the same speed as transistors you have to get rid of the output transformer, but then they can be every bit as fast as the fastest transistors.