Seeking hot running amps

Allanbhaganinfo, your analogy does not work. Class A amplifiers generate heat because they are on all the time. The engine in your car makes heat- all the time- because it is on all the time too. But it is not correct to compare the two!

Class A amplifiers get used not because they make heat but because they are the best sounding amplifiers made. IOW, any amp that is not class A won't sound as one that is (all other things being equal). Especially when one is investing thousands of dollars in an amplifier, one ought to be aware that the sound quality investment is better served by an amp that is class A (and runs hot).

It is assumed that the amplifier is also designed to handle the heat that it makes- we've been making class A amplifiers for the last 28 years and so far the heat of the tubes has not caused us any reliablity issues- and we get good tube life too. Its all in the how you handle Class A requirements.

Ah yes, heat. Class A operation is the reason for heat. Fact is, if you want it to sound right, it has to be class A.

I've never understood why a person would spend thousands or 10s of thousands on a stereo and then compromise the whole thing (and the investment) because they were worried about heat.

A customer of ours in Guatemala runs one of our big amps and has no air conditioning. Instead, he has ductwork positioned in the corners of the room where the amps are, and has a fan at the other end of the ductwork, drawing the air out of the house. His room stays comfortable year round even if the amps are on all day (I know I was there), yet the room is quiet. Elegant solution.

We have a customer in Guatemala who has our biggest amps. He has no air conditioning, and does not need it (Minnesota is hotter in the summer than Guatemala...). This despite the amps often being on all day long; the room stays very comfortable. He does this by having vents in the ceiling above the amps. The hot air is then moved out of the house. It works very well indeed (I was there)!

Its probably not a good idea to choose an amp based on heat (or lack of heat) output. But it is a fact that if you choose an amp for its low heat output, it will represent a compromise in the sound of the system overall. So far no-one has been able to change the laws of physics...