Pure class A amplifiers = "slow" amplifiers?

I spent over a decade with dipoles most models including maggies. For me HI-EFF been the better sound. Now with HI-EFF ribbons about this frees up design. I have a few med to hi-eff hybrid ribbon loudspeakers about. Gives the best of both worlds. No need for HI-Eff to be all horn but still my mains for now are giant 3 way front horns. Ive built a few bass systems for Maggie, ML, SL, Quad owners and the fostex 31.5in is the best I heard matched to 20.1 3.6 and other electrostatics.31.5 can be used in OB so dipole bass. But very large and costly...No free lunch. I have also used 31.5 with oris 250 fostex f200a a few dif ribbons and comp tweeters set up as OB even mid horn is dipole but -6db down over front and to me;) a good step up from the maggies and other electrostatics Ive owned mess about with for customers. I do hear why folks enjoy the maggie sound you can build good systems arround them. As with all things YMMV,and we all dont have the same tastes.

Johnk...Fostex 31.5 = cone area!
Also, Fostex 31.5 = $2535.75
as of April 07. Probably more now.

At least you didnt look at the fostex w400a hr price. Iam working out a design using these with a ribbon;) in a 2 way......

JohnK I respectfully disagree. Under-powered loudspeakers tend to lack dynamics. Different speakers have different amplification requirements. There are pros and cons for each speaker design. I have yet to hear highly sensitive loudspeakers that perform to my satisfaction.

Hi folks, I know this is subject of controversy. In general pure class A has been regarded as the best way in solid state amplification to get the purest sound. In my experience many pure class A solid state amplifiers (Accuphase, Pass Labs, Plinius) sound "slow" and are lacking "dynamics".

What you may be observing is simply a lack of distortion. A very high priced Class A amp is likely to be top notch. Furthermore, the design eliminates crossover distortion which is responsible for very high order harmonic disortion (in very small amounts but perhaps audible in some cases).

If you remove higher order harmonics (distortion) then music will indeed sound more laid back and natural - it will lack that edgy sound that you hear with most pop music today such as Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Green Day, Arctic Monkeys etc. (where distortion has been deliberately added in the mastering stage to make it sound "loud" - see CD loudness wars on google).

My speakers run Class A to two thirds power and I am very familiar with the harsh sound of modern pop CD's. The modern hypercompressed CD effect is such that they sound "fast" or "edgy" or "snappy" at low volumes (perceptively this sounds better to many people which is why the mastering engineers do it) - however - at higher volumes the sound is noticeably harsh and unpleasant compared to a properly mastered CD with proper dynamic range and without "hard-clipped" square signals (often, on a modern CD, a single track is clipped or flat-lined over 10,000 times!! I am not joking! If someone tried to sell you a towel and you got home and found it full of holes then you would take it back and demand your money back - this whole thing perpetrated by the recording industry is totally scandalous).

So laid back slow or natural sounding amplifier is GOOD, at least in this context, IMHO!!