What are the advantages to a Class A amp & what are the trade offs?

@artemus_5, I would have my 100w version modified to run in Class A, but it is powering a loudspeaker which contains magnetic-planar drivers, known for their very low sensitivity. Not as much so as Maggies, but close.

I for years used a 25w/ch Class A ss amp with my old QUADS, and that was a magical combination. If I set them up again, the amp designer alluded to in my previous post offers a real nice little tube amp, available in both Class A/B (35w/ch) and Class A (25w/ch) versions, I will definitely get the 25w version for the QUADS. The QUAD Mk.2 amp was only 15w, and that was plenty for the ESL.

There is one maker of a well-regarded tube power amp (I’ll allow he and it to remain anonymous, so as to not appear to be "pushing" them) who offers the amp in both Class-A/B form, and in pure Class-A. Both versions share the same circuit architecture, power supply, tube compliment, etc, differing only in the biasing required to create each version.

The A/B version produces 100w into 4 and 8 ohms, the A version 40w. So why would anyone go with the 40w version? The designer claims (and there’s no reason to doubt him, at least in my mind) the Class-A version produces 1/10th the distortion of the A/B version. How audible is a tenfold decrease in measured distortion? I can’t answer that question.