Arthur,
I just switched from a Class-B (push-pull) tube amp to a Class-A (single-ended) tube amp. My speakers are Rogers Studio 7s (90dbW sensitivity).
Your understanding of the physics of Class-A and Class-B are far beyond mine, but here are my subjective observations.
The Class-A (single-ended) tube amp heats up the room much better than the regular room heater (which I have had to turn off). It gets HOT! I don't know what I am going to do during the summer.
The other thing I have discovered is that my electric bill has doubled (I just got it today)!
Yet it seems to be worth it. The Class-A (single-ended) sounds dramatically more like live music than the Class-B amp does. Everything sounds so much smoother, so much more like what I experience sitting in front of a live string quintet or a live orchestra. It's a dramatic leap up in quality. I have no idea why this is so.
Subjectively, the Class-A amp sounds significantly louder than the Class-B amp even though it has half the wattage. Moreover, the dynamic range seems greater with the Class-A amp. On more than one occasion, I have turned the volume up during a quiet passage only to be blasted out of the sofa during a loud passage. The difference between high and low seem much greater with the Class-A amp, whereas with the Class-B amp dynamic range seems more constricted.
It's hard to cut up the audioband into bass, mid-range, and treble with the Class-A amp. I just hear music. Seemless music. Every note (from high to low) sounds realistic.
Transients seem much more bold and much more dramatic. I dive for cover now during the cannon shots of the 1812.
The class-A amp does not sound soft or romantic in the way that I was expecting. It sounds as sharp, crystalline or as velvety as the music demands. It does not seem to obscure music with an omni-present coloration of its own. It sounds significantly more accurate than my push-pull amp (which gives a slightly rose tinted patina to everything).
Going from Class-B to Class-A has been nothing short of a sonic revelation. I can deal with the heat for the dramatic increase in the beauty and realness of my music.
I just switched from a Class-B (push-pull) tube amp to a Class-A (single-ended) tube amp. My speakers are Rogers Studio 7s (90dbW sensitivity).
Your understanding of the physics of Class-A and Class-B are far beyond mine, but here are my subjective observations.
The Class-A (single-ended) tube amp heats up the room much better than the regular room heater (which I have had to turn off). It gets HOT! I don't know what I am going to do during the summer.
The other thing I have discovered is that my electric bill has doubled (I just got it today)!
Yet it seems to be worth it. The Class-A (single-ended) sounds dramatically more like live music than the Class-B amp does. Everything sounds so much smoother, so much more like what I experience sitting in front of a live string quintet or a live orchestra. It's a dramatic leap up in quality. I have no idea why this is so.
Subjectively, the Class-A amp sounds significantly louder than the Class-B amp even though it has half the wattage. Moreover, the dynamic range seems greater with the Class-A amp. On more than one occasion, I have turned the volume up during a quiet passage only to be blasted out of the sofa during a loud passage. The difference between high and low seem much greater with the Class-A amp, whereas with the Class-B amp dynamic range seems more constricted.
It's hard to cut up the audioband into bass, mid-range, and treble with the Class-A amp. I just hear music. Seemless music. Every note (from high to low) sounds realistic.
Transients seem much more bold and much more dramatic. I dive for cover now during the cannon shots of the 1812.
The class-A amp does not sound soft or romantic in the way that I was expecting. It sounds as sharp, crystalline or as velvety as the music demands. It does not seem to obscure music with an omni-present coloration of its own. It sounds significantly more accurate than my push-pull amp (which gives a slightly rose tinted patina to everything).
Going from Class-B to Class-A has been nothing short of a sonic revelation. I can deal with the heat for the dramatic increase in the beauty and realness of my music.