Why do I like Class AB better than Class A?

Doogie - there is no difference in maximum power output in "Class A" or A/B its just a matter of how much bias current there is running in the output stage at idle The term "pure Class A" is a bit of a misnomer too as a speaker load is far form flat, a push pull amplifier biased for 50 Watts class A into a 8 ohm load would only "have" 25 watts of class A into a 4 ohm load although depending on rail voltage it would have a maximum power output of lets say 100 Watts into the 8 ohm load and a whopping 200 Watts into a 4 ohm load.

Nelson Pass wrote a very informative paper on this subject called "Leaving class A " it can be found on his website.

On my own amplifiers I have a built in the option to select High bias or Low bias I prefer the sound in High Bias but if just for background listening I leave them in low bias, no need to use up all that energy.

Good Listening All

Peter

Correction,

"although depending on rail voltage it would have a maximum" should be

"could have"

Elizabeth,

Your PURE Class A Forte 4A was biased at 800 mA per node - resulting in an astonishing 9 watts in Pure class A into a 8 ohm load - the rest of it in A/B - and yes it ran hot, but it sounded pretty good. I have had several of them through here. My first "real" amp was its predecessor the 1A - in its a day a pretty good sounding amp too.

Peter