Ditching Class A Amps due to Heat - Sort of a Poll

A big defender of Class D claims that Class A is going away on it’s own and would never become effected by limits placed on electrical consumption or heat output, but just because everyone no longer wants it or wants Class D or similar.

I’ve been running class A tube amps for over 50 years. I’ve been manufacturing them for nearly that long as well. I’ve never liked the heat, so it was really nice to find that after 5 years of R&D that we had a class D product that sounds better than our tube amps. I run them at home now and don’t miss the tubes at all.

(FWIW Our OTLs have gotten very nice reviews and awards in the high end press, best sound at show, stuff like that.)

What makes an amp sound a certain way is its distortion signature, unless its output impedance is high enough that you run into frequency response colorations as well. Class D amps can have a very low output impedance, eliminating the latter issue and it is possible to have them have similar distortion as tube amps make, meaning they can be smooth through the mids and highs, which is also why people like class A amplifiers in general.

Its very likely that I’m the person @brianh61 is referring to with the comment above.

I went from class A to class D on account of the sound, nothing else. Class A is doomed at this point; ten years from now class A offerings will be vastly reduced and it will be by market forces and not some ’green’ agenda (which isn’t a thing when it comes to amplifier classes of operation- no one is out to regulate that).

@atmasphere

Thanks for chiming in. With your selection, it is still more than 5 to 1 in favor of Class A over anything else in this thread.

Have you done away with your Class A Amp due to Heat concerns?    No. Because mine don't generate heat.

Will you be moving away from Class A Amp due to Heat concerns?  No. See above.

Will you never buy a Class A Amp due to Heat concerns?  No. Mostly because I'm not going to buy another amp.

Let me state at the outset that I own SS amps. Monoblocs. Actually, SS exclusively along the entire signal path.

A few extraneous thought arose as I read through the thread. I keep my house at 63 - 64 degrees in winter. The room where my amps are is slightly colder because it's over the garage and the thermostat is down the hall.

The majority of responses focused on tube Class A. I'm not going to defend SS Class A or denigrate tube Class A.  You listen to what you like and what pleases you. Many years ago, before I bought my system, I read a lot of arguments about tube versus solid state. In that reading I found a gem of a statement by one of the better well-known designers. I think it was Carver, but I could be way off with that. The statement was, essentially, that solid state amps could be biased to sound like anything... tube included. The bottom line is decide what you like to listen to, then buy the best you can afford. I found what I liked and bought that. I guess they were biased correctly for me.

If you really want to get into the climate change concerns, answer these questions for yourself. What car do you drive? The amp you're running is minuscule compared to a car. For myself, I got rid of my ICE vehicle and will drive 100% EV as soon as it arrives.

Whatever you drive; how many times do you walk instead of drive? I walk a lot (and did so before I got rid of the ICE.) Maybe I'm lucky in that I live in a neighborhood where walking is feasible. It only takes me 30 minutes to walk to the supermarket or hardware store, etc.

What temperature do you keep your house at? As stated, I keep it 63 - 64 in winter. 73 - 74 in summer.  I live in the northeast.  It gets both cold and hot and humid.

To brian61. You really should have differentiated your question between SS and tube amps.

Happy listening.

No AC in the house. Only very quiet ceiling fans and windows that open to the trade winds. So despite my tube gear I really don't expend much electricity overall. As for disturbing neighbors, I don't play my stereo very loud, in any case.