Class A Amp owners, Whats your power bill?

As you have noted Class A amps draw full current at idle, therefore, just turn them off when not in use.

I hear the power companies are now sending out upgrade to class A amp checks. The program is intended to help audiophiles who wish to upgrade to a class A amp. The program works according to my power company. They will access your system for free and then make a suggestion to which class A amp would work best in your system/room.Then when you turn your class A/B or D amp over at their amp change center. Then they the power company will cut you a check to the upgrade path for a class A amp..this program might not be in your area as of yet?

I was always told that it's no more than a 25 watt light bulb? Any comments....

I'm running a luxman 550 II class a integrated. I've had it for about two months. While I don't leave it on 24/7, I have not noticed a difference in my power bill.

It will be pulling 7.27 amps at idle, I can see the wheel spinning!!! The 25 watt lightbulb draws 0.23 amps.

Schipo: Do you have to give them your old amp so it can be crushed?

Elevick: A 25 watt bulb? Yes, if you put 20 of them in a row.

Most power companies charge from 12 to 20 cents for every 1,000 watts run for 1 hour. So you can figure it from there.

Two Luxman M800a. Go solar.

If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it; better stick with Class D.

>>>Any way I figure it draws 800 +/- minus watts at IDLE! how much power you think I am pulling if I run it at a mostly 4 Ohm load when playing reasonably loud?<<<

Hardly any difference.

My Pass XA.5's draw 600 watts from the wall. At my 13 cents per kwh, it costs me less than a dime an hour to run them. Now, if I left them on 24/7 it would add about $70 a month to my elec bill (more in the summer because I would have the AC on more to help with the heat).

One thing that I like about Nelsons newer design is the standby switch. Only draws a few watts and no heat. The caps are kept fully charged so when I do flip them on it only takes about an hour to get up "heat" and they sound pretty nice while doing so. Electric co hates Nelson :-).

Joule Electra VZN-100's put a $30 shelf on my electric bill the month they showed up. I look at it this way, they serve to offset the heating bill for the winter. My basement is never cold and I don't have to turn the heat on down there. I can't use them when it is much past 70 out. I put one of those kill-a-watt things on it, draw was something like 11 amps. I also tried plugging them into powerstrip with my other equipment when diagnosing a ground loop issue. The powerstrip blew almost immediately. They do draw the power.

And remember, if you are making heat with your amp while cooling your house with AC, every penny in electricity that your amp uses will cost you another penny on the AC bill*the inefficiency of your AC.

I'm with Onemug. I own Pass XA160.5s. I leave them in standby mode and turn them on about an hour or two before I listen. They are on about 80-100 hours a month and added about $20 to my monthly bill. It is so well worth it. I love these Class A amps. It's a bit tough in the summer, but I don't have to heat my living room in the winter. And the sound is glorious.

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Class "A" amps draw the most current at idle, and draw less when playing music. So you are saving money by playing music if it is on.

again... incorrect

The louder you play them the more efficient they get, but the current draw does not decrease. They produce less heat when playing music because some of the power they consume is being transferred to the speaker and not being dissipated as heat in the output devices, but total power consumed does not go down.

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I listen on average once per week for a few/several hours. So don't know, don't care, as long as the music sounds awesome, which is it does. That is all I care about.

In Las Vegas: My power company wants to raise rates because we (their customers) have cut back our usage so much that they can't afford to pay their employees.

Onemug: I attended a demo (Evanston, Ill) where Mr. Pass
was presenting his Aleph amps (mid 90's?).
I asked him about the lack of a standby switch to which he just shrugged
(What? Me worry?).
I guess the EU has got his attention on this matter.

Wait there will be government program cash for class A amplifier. You will have to trade your power guzzling power amp for a new efficient energy star class D amp. The gov't dealer will be required to smash the inside of your beloved class A amp for the cash credit towards the great sounding 2 dimensional sound stage newer energy efficient amp.

Since I do not like to suffer through a one hour warmup then "Good" sound after playing for a half hour, to finally get "Best" sound quality with my Pass XA30.5, I leave it fully on, 24/7/365.

It costs me $15/mo in Minnesota. 200 watts continuous.

I also worry about temperature cycling the output transistors and the effect on reliability.

The XA30.5 does not give off that much heat. Not any more than my old GAS Son of Ampzilla that did not have an on-off switch, that I ran 24/7/365, for 20 years, without any problems!

The "big" Pass Labs or other Class A amps would be expensive to run continuously, and if I owned one I would put it in standby when not in use. And as a result "suffer" through "less" than perfect sound quality, during warmup.

I have QA, test, and reliability experience, in military and medical electronics.

My class A keeps my music room nice and toasty, so for me I get a two for one, great sound and warm toes.