100w class A or 200 w class AB ????

In the same line of amps I think it's pretty safe to say that the 200W is "more powerful." Sometimes the watt rating is so misleading as to not mean much.

The class just tells you how they are biased. Some folks think class A sounds better. Class A is almost always less powerful because current is running all the time. If a circuit has a chance to rest(cool down) during part of the cycle it can take more current during the time it is on-more power because two (or more) components take turns handling the signal instead of dealing with it all of the time. In AB the current is running more than half but not the entire cycle like in class A.

Class A will not give you more "power." Nor,imho, would an amp drive a particular speaker better just because it is in class A.

Some think it sounds better.

Sincerely
I remain,

Hi
Not taken that way at all.
My response above was very limited to amps in the "same line."

Kind of "all other things being equal" response.

Class A amps are often more expensive amps and have many things (designwise) going for them besides the typical W rating that is often taken over a very limited range. An amp has to have a lot going for it to respond across the frequency range and control a speaker.

All audio amps provide power the entire cycle. If they didn't you would have real distortion. With class A every output element(I really just deal with tubes) is biased so it is on all the time. With AB they do not and the output elements have to pass off the signal and this can cause distortion.

I agree with you re the "perceived sound." IMHO It is not a matter of just a wattage rating though. Many things are involved.

Control of a speaker is a good example and a separate issue.
A complex one too.

Hey Sean tell us what you think!!!

Cheers
I remain,

didn't

Sincerely
I remain

Eliz: I agree with some PP - SETS stay in class A.(least we confuse someone)

Muralman: yes, class A can do with less or no global feedback (local is another story) but that is a different issue than we started which was if a Class A nominal 100 W amp devivers more power than a nominal 200W AB because it is class A.

I'm pretty much a SET person these days but I think feedback has gotten a bad rap. 15-20 years ago lots of poor designs used too much feedback in an attempt to compensate for poor design. Feedback took in on the chin. I'm not crazy about it but I think it's to generally scorned sometime.

Sincerely
I remain