It make sense that a linear output amp with no switching distortion, matched pairs for equal gain left and right and very high capacitance for smoothing and storage should sound better. How much better is one another thing. I've heard one class A amp that sounded better. All others where just another amp or another power amp.You guys know darn well class A and A/B are all about the PRaT, chocolatey mids, airy highs, fast bass and the ultimate, velvety vocals. Not that I'm stirring the pot.........
This is somewhat what I suspect. More harmonic distortion = warmth or whatever else they're describing. But is this actually audible?
Personally all the differences I thought I was hearing were not there in level matched “blind” (my daughter made the changes so I didn’t know which I was listening to) comparisons.I'm more curious, as I've never owned a class A amp and have never been able to A/B test them myself.
They point to the sound being more "open", "warmer", "dynamic", less "sterile".
For tube amps, it seems more reasonable there would be a difference. That extra distortion which colors the sound. For class A, are they essentially hearing less of the same phenomenon?
In the above videos, Mid-Fi guy goes into great detail listing out the differences between various solid state amps. Part of me finds it very hard to believe that he's simply imagining all of it. What do you guys think is going on there?
Josh Valour does a fairly unscientific A/B test of the A90 vs. A90D, but it's still a data point showing some audible differences.
What's going on here? Are so many audiophiles who spend time with this equipment on a daily basis simply imagining all of it?
Those bad boys are supposed to get amps hot.Apogee Diva speakers
Just got another on in yesterday and same thing. Over 250 ohm headphones and it goes into class A automatically. In standby it's warm, but I just took the DT880 600ohm out for a spin in high gain mode and it did feel less warm the whole time than in standby. It is nice being able to stay in medium gain even on the 600 ohm Beyers, just need high for replaygain, prevolume war recordings, or equalizing with a big preamp reduction. With the 880's I tried to reach the end of the volume wheel to see in medium gain and the last few notches I got the "Danger Will Robinson" alarm as it got too loud. It's nice not having to buy balanced cables ever again.Slightly off topic. I have a Topping A30 Pro that at lower volumes runs class A. It gets really warm. At high volumes it run with just a touch of heat.
Tube amplifiers are operated in different classes, in case anyone is wondering about the concepts.For tube amps, it seems more reasonable there would be a difference. That extra distortion which colors the sound. For class A, are they essentially hearing less of the same phenomenon?
Some are class C. No, you wouldn't want to listen to thoseFinally, all single-ended amplifiers are Class A.
Probably not but for the sake of curiosity it would have been interesting.Some are class C. No, you wouldn't want to listen to those
Yes, it's simple and efficient. As long as you can tune for a narrow band of frequencies, distortion is good enough for many purposes. For audio? It would probably sound like everything was robot musicProbably not but for the sake of curiosity it would have been interesting.
OT:
Class C seems to be used for RF transmitters:
Class C
Class-C amplifier
In a class-C amplifier, less than 50% of the input signal is used (conduction angle Θ < 180°). Distortion is high and practical use requires a tuned circuit as load. Efficiency can reach 80% in radio-frequency applications.[11]
The usual application for class-C amplifiers is in RF transmitters operating at a single fixed carrier frequency, where the distortion is controlled by a tuned load on the amplifier. The input signal is used to switch the active device, causing pulses of current to flow through a tuned circuit forming part of the load.[16]
Power amplifier classes - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
He he.Yes, it's simple and efficient. As long as you can tune for a narrow band of frequencies, distortion is good enough for many purposes. For audio? It would probably sound like everything was robot music
Class A are seldom very powerful.Duh, I don't think "oomph" is not what sets class-A apart from class-AB. If both are well designed the only difference sound-wise, is cross over distortion and the lack thereof. And practically also your electricity bill