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

Answers to your 3 questions. No, no and no. I love my Audio Mirror tube monos. Also have a ss A/B Van Alstine amp. 

Air conditioned house and hot running Audio Research CL60 finally got to be too much for my wife, and me. Went to a tube/mosfet hybrid, Moscode 600 Maxi, but... went back to a VT100. But now I'm thinking GaNFET.

Worth a try.

I'm open minded to the latest technology,  I would like to try a GaN amp to see what they sound like.    It wouldn't displace my current amp , it would be for a second system in another room that in all honesty would get more use 

I switched from tubes because of heat, weight and power tube replacement cost.  Started out experimenting with a few SS amps and ended up with AGD Audions.  Could not be happier.  Still have tubes in my signal path as I running through a Cary SLP05.  Over all very happy!!

Get real. Climate change is everyone's problem. 

@hilde45  You're going to have to get rid of those tube amps if you want to start preaching climate change.

Class A amps are way too small in number to have any impact on climate.

+1 jerryg123

Well, I just have to say this to our friends in DC about my Class A amps. 

Do as your conscience and pocketbook tell you. In any case, as I mention in another thread, when my hot-running Class A Mytek Brooklyn Bridge bit the dust I replaced it with a cool-running Cambridge CXN. Not quite as wonderful-sounding but still a pleasure to listen to.

The amount of people that own Class A stereos is so minuscule they don't have any impact. Most folks I know listen to Alexa for music or own a soundbar for TV. I'm the only odd ball that owns a stereo.

@brianh61   :So the one political comment above is not off base, just the person pointed to because he just does what he is told.

you have won the internet, and the best comment in this forum. 
-buys Brian a cold Guinness pint!

Thanks for all the answers so far, the consensus with this small sampling is still what I expected, more thumbs up than down.

In full disclosure, this discussion came up within one where Luxman stopped making Class A amps due to Environmental Issues. 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.

So the one political comment above is not off base, just the person pointed to because he just does what he is told.

Keep ’em coming

@jerryg123 

do not get those batteries wet in your car

Its inadvisable to submerge any car, gas or electric.

I have a fried with solar in his home and he is still battling noisy power in his system when on battery power

Your friend obviously has site/product quality/design specific issues. My system isn't designed to take us off the grid in the event of nuclear war, ours is designed to supply the grid with a similar (in our case a little excess) amount of generated power that we consume. We spec'd our system to eventually supply three electric cars as well as potential max usage for a 4,000+ sq ft home. 

24 hrs for my monos to be their best sounding. 
 

such a difference from initial power up to same time next day listening. 
 

@jwei +1 that’s pretty much the routine. I also keep my basement at 63 degrees so I don’t heat it in the winter unnecessarily and whatever the heat generated by the Pass XA30.8 amp doesn’t bring the temperature up that much. 
In the summer the basement is cool so it’s rarely a problem.

I have the Pass XA60.8 mono blocks on my list of amps to try.  

I love my Pass class A amps.  Yeah they're hot, but the sound is magic to my ears.

I used to keep them on all the time.  Nowadays, I turn them on about an hour before listening sessions, saves on my electric bill and heat generation.

@erik_squires I did not find the sound coming out of that M-10 as good! That was the unit I sold. 

Wots damatta? Is everyone around here overliteral?

Personally, I abhor wasting energy. Everybody else can "waste" whatever they want to.

@ghasley do not get those batteries wet in your car. Also, I have a fried with solar in his home and he is still battling noisy power in his system when on battery power?? 

I never have to worry about losing power due to being on the same grid as H2O plant and emergency service in my town.  Infrastructure in America is weak at best especially the power grids. Texas and CA are the worst! 

My mind goes to how much of a draw this purchase will damage the account total. 
 

 Also, the wife and her talks, complaining, whining. 
she is a nagger. 

Somehow Biden is involved in Class A discussions. Yeah he's the first thing I think of when amp shopping. 

The car I drive around town is 100% electric, up-spec'd home solar system...so for me class A isn't a problem. Thank goodness because I presently have five different class A amps in residence.

I listen in my basement. It is never ever a problem.

NAD's hybrid tech is one of the most innovative amp techs I've seen in recent years.  It runs hotter than Class becayse it has a small Class A in between the Class D.  Very cool stuff and it sounds pretty good too.

I tried and ended up moving the GaN and a Purfi amp to a secondary system and one to my daughter's condo. Just not for me, maybe one day. 

I actually have a Heed Elixir in my office that runs cooler than the NAD-M10 I had in my office. Must be the Transcap technology these Hungarians are using in their Class A amplification. 

With the newer GaN and Purify amps and with future improvements surely coming down the road I’d have to think long and hard about buying a traditional SS Class A amp.  But at least some Class A amps from Plinius and Clayton have a hi/low bias switch so when not listening critically you don’t have to heat the house or assault the electric bill.  Nice to have viable alternatives. 

Myself not a fan of the space heaters. Regardless of how great they sound. Keep in mind what the heat means: wasted electricity / inefficient designs. I do now recently own 2 carver tube amps but they don't kick out much heat. Some but not bad. Primaluna tube pre has minimal heat. 

Come summer though I'll buy another Class D something as it's hot AF where I live. 

Amps that sound great will always have a following, whether they run hot or are ridiculously inefficient.   
 

I like tubes but if I didn’t own tubes I would definitely look at a low powered Class A amp.   
 

Years ago I borrowed a Pass Aleph.   It ran so hot the heat sinks took on a blueish purple color over the years.  It was ugly and ran hot as hell but it sounded great.