Rather than focus on pure class A, you might want to look at A/B amps that are are biased to deliver more class A wattage before switching to A/B operation. Some vendors publish these numbers, others do not. Coda is one example. If you don’t play your music loud, or have sensitive speakers, you may not need a lot. More important however is how the amp sounds to you and how well it plays with your speakers.
Higher-End Class A/B vs. Class A Integrateds
I’ve been thinking about downsizing from separates to an integrated amp. I’ve noticed that some companies have both class A and class A/B amps that are both pretty expensive such as Luxman for example. Hegel seems to be well received and they’re not true class A as far as I know.
I was kind of under the impression that class A was better than class A/B due to lower distortion yet again, there are some well reviewed class A/B amps that are as pricey as some class A amps.
To be clear, it’s really not the price I’m concerned about. It’s the fact that some integrated amps $5000 and up are still only Class AB.
How do these higher priced class AB amps sound in comparison to true class A amps?