Class A Solid State Sound

“Getting back to the OP's original post. Class A circuits ( and we are specifically talking about amplifier output stages here ), just sound smoother, more homogenized, less artificial, more involving, with every attribute of recorded music reproduction, keeping one in his / her listening seat, longer. Granted, there are still audible differences, between designers and manufacturers products, but, Class A is still, imo, superior, at this particular time, in SQ. ”

This is the reason I put up with the downsides of Class A amps, namely, heat, weight, and cost, cost of the amp and the cost of additional electricity. I haven’t heard any other amp topology that gets me as engaged with the music as Class A.

I run a Gryphon Colosseum Stereo amp. It can generate 160w, Class A, at 8ohms, and 1250 watts at 1 ohm. It does not transition to Class B. On momentary transients, it can put out over 4000watts. The amp weighs 175lbs. I love the thing, it sings like no other amp I’ve ever owned. 

George, that is one crazy amp, haha. My rule is, if I can lift it, I don’t want it. Is ME mainly confined to the Australian market? I have not heard of them.

Thanks, George.

The Gryphon Colosseum has three user selectable bias levels, Low, which is 30w Class A, Medium, which is 70w Class A, and High, which is 165w Class A. I can tell the difference and prefer running at High, but that’s hard to do in the summer. Still, I live in a northern city, so most of the year, I can run High without heating up my apartment too much. 

Oh, mijostyn, the Gryphon gear is durable and engineered to high standards. I expect to be running my class A amp for decades. It sounds great, too. 

The Gryphon Colosseum is one of the most beautiful amps I've ever seen and it does not take up a lot of floor space because it is laid out vertically. Believe it or not, the savings in floor space is what sold my wife on the unit. I live in a small apartment and don't have the room for the massive amps from Boulder. Plus, Boulder's prices are insane, as you pointed out. 

George, before the Gryphon I was running James Bongiorno's statement Class A amp from the 1970s, the Sumo Gold. I had it completely rebuilt. It was a 125w Class A amp and gave me eight years of trouble free service. The Gryphon sounds a lot better, as it should, with improvements in various technologies over that time. I sold the Gold for $1k to someone who was glad to get it. 
I've just never liked the sound of MOSFET amps. To each his own.