Green, Eco Friendly Class A Monoblocks



Every time the power goes out where I live, I am reminded how much my life and interests revolve around electricity.

So as I contemplate a new house, with a dedicated circuit for audio equipment, I am wondering if there is yet any sustainable, green, or eco friendly technology which could supplement or perhaps even meet the demands of the hungriest audio and video systems.

Could anyone please comment on the latest solar or alternative energy sources which could meet the demands of a traditional high end audio system?

(Not as excited about switching to class D amps and/or renewable iPods.)

Thanks and hope this is of interest to others.

cwlondon
cwlondon
Atmasphere - average music power delivered to speakers is very low. It is in order of few watts (few percent of max power) while class A takes up to 8x max power. Class A take the same power all the time. When delivers power to speakers (few watts) it dissipates less in the heatsinks.

Cwlondon - Solar panel for class A won't change anything. It is still "polluting" component since you could return this solar energy to grid and reduce emissions.
Same is true for hydrogen - it is very "dirty" fuel since it wastes a lot (90%)of energy in making it using electricity. The fact that energy might be clean (solar, wind etc) doesn't mean anything since, again, it could be returned to grid instead to reduce emissions. Fortunately it will never see daylight since selling hydrogen would be the same as selling dynamite without permit.
Kijanki, if you have been playing with solar power you know that a lot depends on how long you use an electrical item as well as how much power it draws.

What solar systems I have seen vary from a single 12V deep cycle batter powered by a single solar cell, in which case class D seems like the way to go. I've seen larger systems that could easily operate a class A tube system for an evening without strain. I have a set of 45-based Class A push-pull amps at home that I built as a DIY goof-off project, but they have wide bandwidth and low distortion. As long as you had efficient speakers they would be fine.

BTW I'm putting together an electric truck- its been a 3-year project. Looks like I will get a 100 mile range, if the math is remotely accurate. If there is any interest I can post photos...
Hey Ralph - I'm looking forward to those truck pics! Definitely post them. I've mentioned that project to a few friends who are very interested in what you're doing. Were you able to implement any of the new capacitor technology you were telling me about, or is has that still not touched-down yet?