Class of operation for Tube Power Amps


My understanding is tube amplifiers can be ran in Class A or Class A/B operation just like Solid State amps. MANY tube amps do not say what class they are running. If they don't say this in the specifications do you just assume the are Class A/B. How can you tell?

willywonka

Showing 1 response by retiredaudioguy

ALL SET consumer tube amps are class A.

MOST PP tube amps are AB, but there are (or were) purist class A PP designs, VAC's Renaissance designs, for example, were PP 300B class A. I did a search for new PP Class A amps and found only kits or inexpensive units.

Class A designs will (probably) use up output tubes more quickly.

Each 135lb VAC Renaissance 140 monoblock used 8(!) 300Bs per channel and made any other source of room  heating unnecessary. Sometime in the '90s I heard a system at Sound by Singer with a pair of those driving JM Labs Grand Utopias making glorious music.

I used the stereo VAC Ren 70/70 for many years but eventually the cost of replacing a matched octet of 300Bs - and the near impossibility of moving the amp - caused me to trade it in.  I still have the little brother, the Ren 30/30 but it's in need of TLC.

If you want a class pure class A unit look for a good condition used VAC 300B.  I met Kevin Hayes at Sound by Singer and he said (in the 90's) that this was, probably, his best amplifier sonically but it was not really commercially viable as he couldn't make much margin on a 30 watt PP amp built to his standards.