@Tom6897 is correct on the first few watts. I own the Luxman 590AXII, it was a tough decision to go with pure class A over their 509 with A-AB with more headroom. I do not believe it's hype or marketing. For me, I decided I didn't need more then the 30 watts into 8 ohms or 45 into 4 ohms. I just don't play my music that loud anymore and with 30 watts, I can get well past 90db if I really need too. I have found it to be plenty of power, but I do still wonder if I could have heard the extra headroom in an AB amp - or perhaps heard the amp when it switches from A to AB (I've heard that some can hear it, some say BS). Just giving you my experience - I doubt I'll ever go back to D amps which I have owned many times.
Class A into Class AB
What is the goal of a designer who makes intergrated amps that have class A for x amount of watts before it goes into class AB? Are there any examples of this being implemented well? I get this feeling that it’s kind of just a marketing thing...where people think they are getting some quality class A without the very high price tag. I was particularly looking at the CODA CSiB amps where you have three choices of how much of your first watts are class A. I have since found a few other respectable brands that implement this as well. I have yet to come across anyone who has heard much of difference between AB amps and one’s that’s state "first X amount of watts..." Class A/AB. Anyone have any experience with these kind of integrated amplifiers? Just looking for a little bit of understanding as I’m trying to upgrade my amplifier.