What could I expect to hear from a Class A amp?

It would be nice to know of non-Pass Class A amplifiers that perform well, and why so. Bearotti asks about Krell. At this point I am curious in just about anything Class A. The whole discussion thus far is very helpful to me as a Pass XA60.5 owner, but thus far continues to confirm what's heard through the months, in that nobody remotely comes close to Pass Lab on Class A amplifiers. Otherwise there would have been well-informed and fairly objective challenges left and right.

It would be nice to know of non-Pass Class A amplifiers that perform well, and why so.

ATC make amplifiers with what is probably a sliding bias - you get 2/3 power Class A before it reaches Class AB operating point for the final 1/3 power. I have not compared them to Pass but ATC are relatively unknown as an amplifier manufacturer whilst Pass is legendary. You are safe sticking with Pass, IMHO.

Coda makes some very good Class A amps in pure Class A and biased Class A. Recently heard the Coda S5.5 a real stunner. Also if you can find the Coda 12.0 it is a heavy contender in Class A amps.

Most of the Coda staff is former Threshold staffers, that formed their own company. So the Pass legacy is clearly evident in their product line.

"...nobody remotely comes close to Pass Lab on Class A amplifiers. Otherwise there would have been well-informed and fairly objective challenges left and right."

I'll submit Clayton Audio as a strong competitor to Pass Labs performance-wise, but they're obviously a much smaller company that sells far fewer amps so they're not close in that regard.

Spatine, As I've said I'm a big fan of Nelson Pass but in my experience I think ( and this is just my opinion) Gryphons class A amps are superior for some applications. The Antileon signature is $31,000 the Colosseum is $50.000 and the Colosseum monos are ( I think) $75,000. What makes them more universally useful is that they continue to increase class a power down to 1/2 ohm impedance. ie. 150w/8 ohms, 300w/4ohms, 600w/2ohms, 1200w/1ohm, 2400w/.5ohms. They have 2 power cords and I plug each into a dedicated 20amp outlet. Now in practice they would rarely exceed 600w output but they are impervious to load. This won't matter to people with efficient speakers with benign loads but it mattered to me in my case. That said Pass represents better value and if you don't need the extra oomph then I would go with them. If however you really dig class A but have challenging speakers or money is no object then Gryphon is a better way to go IMHO. This is not a put down of Pass. I really like their electronics and I especially like their people and business philosophy. - Jim