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equating class A to class AB SS amps?

I am confused about how to equate and compare class A to class AB solid state amps. Is there a conversion factor, or is it not that simple? I have heard people say that "this 30 wpc class A amp is easily equivalent to 150 wpc class AB" etc.

The two top Luxman integrated amps cost about the same. One is the 30 wpc pure class A L-590Aii, and the other is the 120 wpc class AB L-509u. How do these amps equate or compare to each other? Which is more powerful (or are they about the same?)? I am confused!

Regards,

Mark

toronto416
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
An amplifier is a tool to drive your speakers, select them first and the select an appropriate one that you like the sound of on THAT speaker. There are many factors involved, ghostrider has pointed several of them out. Generalizations about the qualities of Class A, Class B, Tubes etc. are less important than the qualities of a particular amp and how well it matches your speaker.
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seditious3
184 posts
 
The other point is that many AB amps operate in class A until a certain wattage is reached, then go AB.

I used to have a 75 watt (into 8 ohms) class A amp that was beautiful to listen to.
macdadtexas
1,794 posts
 
Excellent answers, I always wondered about this too.

Thanks.
phd
1,324 posts
 
I owned an Aleph 30 (Class A) amp rated at 30 glorious watts per channel. Based on the different amps I have owned previously and a direct comparison to them, it had no more power than just a 30 watt per channel AB solid state amp.
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