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Why do I like Class AB better than Class A?

So I just purchased a Plinius SA 100 MKIII, and have had 2 listening sessions comparing both with the toggle switch. To me clearly the AB is more detailed and focused, the A is warm but a little fuzzy and bloated, although I would give it a slight nod on just vocal songs. Am I just not use to the sound as this is my first A amp or have I not let it properly warm up for class A (1hour or so).
Don't get me wrong, i love the amp, great bottom end slam but I don't hear the holy grail from Class A. Thanks in advance for the input guys.
barfbag

Showing 2 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,574 posts
 
Most transistor gear I have seen really have long warm-up times- 24 hours or more.

Theoretically class A gives you lower distortion. When you remove distortion, the amp should sound smoother and more detailed as distortion can result in harshness and obscures detail due to the ear's masking rule.

Now when you get more detail, one of the things that happens is that there is more room ambiance that shows up. There is more of the acoustic signature around each instrument. This can make the amp seem to have less image specificity, until you realize that the image is being presented with more of the ambiance around it intact.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,574 posts
 
Mrtennis, you can expect most transistor amps to be somewhat bright and lacking bass on most full-range ESLs like the Quad ESL 63.

The impedance curve of such speakers and the way they operate simply does not favor most transistor designs. there is more information at this link:
http://www.atma-sphere.com/Resources/Paradigms_in_Amplifier_Design.php
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