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Actually difference between class A and AB?

Class A amp sounds like holy grail of HIFI world.
But class A amp are much heavier, more expensive and rarer than class AB or class B design. Few can afford 100 LB weight of a 2-channel 100w/c amp.

Is there any actual difference between class A and class AB when listening to actual music? And what is that difference?
hl10027
joenies's avatar
joenies
258 posts
 
The Latest issue of The Absolute Sound has an artical that goes through all the different types of amps.
Just got it yesterday, have not read the whole artical yet. Looks like it has some good infromation in it.
Joe Nies
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,179 posts
 
Newer Class Ds done well may be the emerging holy grail for most in terms of overall performance, efficiency, and cost of ownership. Maybe even just on performance alone, the rest aside.

I am not a Class A/B fan anymore in general.

Class A is good but practical for most only in certain cases.

I've had older Class G rail switching amps also. Those were smaller and more efficient also but also very mediocre with a compromised design, like much Class A/B perhaps.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,793 posts
 
Mapman, I suspect that that is sort of true, at least I have hope for it but have yet to see a class D amp come anywhere close to what I expect out of an amp. I think the technology has more to offer than we have seen available so far though.

Joenies, when you read that TAS article, you may also want to read this:
http://www.atma-sphere.com/Blog/
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