Ditching Class A Amps due to Heat - Sort of a Poll


A discussion elsewhere about the future of Class A made me wonder how true one statement really is. So the questions are...

Have you done away with your Class A Amp due to Heat concerns?

Will you be moving away from Class A Amp due to Heat concerns?

Will you never buy a Class A Amp due to Heat concerns?

I only have a class A/B unit that does Class A up to 6 watts with almost no heat so really can't speak for those who have used in the past or currently own and run Class A Amps.

brianh61

I purposely avoided Class A because of the heat and chose high bias Class A / AB amp as a compromise. I enjoy the sound and anticipate a longer service cycle out of them (electrical charge was not the concern). I was also aware of class D technology is on the rise but did not have a full confidence as I had with the high bias class A/AB amp.

Living in the area where the temperasture is around 95 F for at least 3 month of the year. Have p.single ended tube A class amp and preamp and do not switch on the amps at all during the summer. Than again, hi fi is a winter sport, plenty of other interesting stuff to do during the summer...would I change for some other kind of amp? If I find some that gives the same illusion of live music (like tubes do) yes, but so far ss or hybrid did not delivered it. Have not heard any ganfet amps, curious about it...

You'll have to pry my Pass XA 30.5 out of my cold dead hands. I live in New England and this time of year I'm grateful for the heating bonus to go along with the spectacular sound.

I own & really enjoy the best/ worst of both worlds. Full class A, 100 watts / side tube integrated amp. Rogers High Fidelity EFH 200 Mark II. Sounds great; very powerful, dynamic, detailed w/ full frequency extensions but as airy, beautifully toned as I could ever want. It should at its price & does & should do so for a long time. 
 

That said, it puts out some serious heat all the time. Living in New England, I don’t mind 8 or 9 months of the year. For myself, very much worth the trade offs.

I have a Pass Labs class A amp and yes it does get warm but never felt any heat issues from the amp. I live in the northwest where summers can get hot here and we don’t have AC. Still not a problem. I went from a class A/B tube amp to this amp and am very pleased with the upgrade.

So even an audio forum can’t get away from political comments.