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Class A/B switching cause sonic problems?

I have heard different thoughts on this subject and was looking for some other opinions.
Spoke with Mike Creek at HE 2002 and he did not feel there was any degradation when you have a power amp that switches between Class A ( for the 1st watt) and Class B (for power over 1 watt). He though class A's inefficiency and heat generated were not worth whatever benefits there may be. Maybe modern A/B designs don't have problems like older designs did.
Then I saw an article somewhere on the web (darned if I can find it now) where another power amp designer was strongly against switching power supplies.
Is there any agreement on this subject as to who is right?
cdc

Showing 1 response by cdc

cdc OP
1,874 posts
 
Hi Bob. I guess I'm not totally clear on A/B amps. So you're saying the amp will switch even even I kept volume levels low so not to go above 1 watt output on the power amp? Aren't these amps supposed to put out class "A" for the first watt? Then "B" after that?
There don't seem to be any class "A" amps available anymore that I know of so maybe the market has decided for me what I want. But I do know ATC does use class "A" amps in their active speakers.
Thanks evryone for the help.
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