Class A amps are not slower or faster than class A/B and do not inherantly have more distortion. Class A actually potentially has less distortion because the active device is biased in a manner so that it conducts the through the entire cycle of the input signal. Of course can drive the active device too far in one direction or the other and end up with a distorted waveform - distorted sound. A Class A device avoids the distortion caused when you process something less than the entire cycle with one active device and the remainder with a second active device, because the point where the conduction crosses over causes a glitch. However, this is not really a problem if the system is properly designed. Why would anyone want to use less than Class A topology ? Because you save on the size of the active devices, if you are only conducting current half the time you create less heat and can use a lower wattage component. A well designed CLass A should sound no better or no worse and no different than a well designed Class A/B. Now there are a host of reasons that one amplifier may sound different than another but whether the design is CLass A or Class A/B is too limited of a criterion to say how an amp will sound or how well it will be able to drive a load.
Pure class A amplifiers = "slow" amplifiers?
Hi folks, I know this is subject of controversy. In general pure class A has been regarded as the best way in solid state amplification to get the purest sound. In my experience many pure class A solid state amplifiers (Accuphase, Pass Labs, Plinius) sound "slow" and are lacking "dynamics". Do they sound that way because they have less distortion than class A/B amplifiers, I mean sometimes a signal is so pure that one is increasing the volume adjustment knob to get a louder sound. With a very pure sound it seems like music goes slower too (= psychoacoustic phenomenon).
Chris
Chris