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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?

nicktheknife
arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,599 posts
 

Nick, you’re not alone. I also fell victim to the hype and bought a Kinki EX-M1+ (used). Nothing special at all. I would say below average. I sold it at a considerable loss within 60 days.
 

Sorry for being the bearer of bad news. 

zlone
424 posts
 

The Kinki integrated is rated at 215 W rms (8 ohms) 290 W rms (4 ohms) both channel driven. 

The answer is in the quoted specs, unfortunately this amp is fairly gutless. Look for an amp that doubles the wattage going from 8 to 4 ohms, or at least comes close. 

mesch
3,410 posts
 

Seems to me the rating for the Kinki at 8ohms was highly overstated and the relative low increase in rating at 4ohms indicates that amp is not suited for for a 4ohm speaker.  

jacobsdad2000
433 posts
 

Sad to say live and learn. Some really nice Simaudio gear on USAM and TMR right now, trade that kinki and be done. 

nicktheknife OP
194 posts
 

It seems the KInki may be better suited to a speaker with higher efficiency and more like an 8 ohm load.

The reviews I’ve read, all very positive btw never mentioned it having a problem driving certain speakers. In retrospect, perhaps I should have paid more attention to the speakers they were using in their review.

That said, I wouldn’t mind owning a pair of speakers that are easy to drive with almost any amplifier. It would give me more options.

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