Never buy based on design, etc. Buy based on how it sounds.+1 to that by @millercarbon. I see many audiophiles who pay a lot of attention to the particular technology used in a product. To a large degree, the sound of a product comes from general implementation and engineering, not the class of operation, the chip used, and so on.
Also +1 to those who warned about heat. It is a real factor in choosing power amps, and Class A typically runs hottest.