that’s simple!
just plug amp into ac power (or current) measuring unit, and dial the volume control.. class A power consumption is not sensitive to volume, while AB will consume significantly more with volume increase.
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?
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@westcoastaudiophile It's not simple if you are looking to buy an amp and don't have access to it. @gkelly Thanks for the reply. I was looking at 3 different tube amps and none of them address the class of operation in the description or specifications. I do know almost all solid state amplifiers do address this. |
If a mono tube amp has just one tube or a stereo tube amp has just 2 tubes it isn't likely to be class a, it is absolutely class A. There is no other choice due to single ended circuit topology. Other wise it's not absolute but the odds are any push/pull amp(two or more tubes per channel) is class AB. In fact any push pull amp solid state or tube is unlikely to be class A at very high powers although it may be what's called rich class AB meaning it stays class A to a power high enough it almost never goes out of class A into class B. |
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