Shadorne -- Excellent thoughts, as usual, which are not commonly realized. Thanks!
I'm not sure I understand, though, why Class A would run cooler when outputting signal into a load. It's tempting to think that could result from a portion of the current that would otherwise flow through some of the output transistors (at zero signal conditions), being diverted through the speaker instead. But I don't think that would happen to any significant degree in the typical situation where the amp's output impedance is much less than the speaker's impedance, so that the amp behaves essentially like a voltage source.
In any event, it seems clear that the presence of signal would not raise the operating temperatures significantly above what they are at idle.
Thanks again!
-- Al
I'm not sure I understand, though, why Class A would run cooler when outputting signal into a load. It's tempting to think that could result from a portion of the current that would otherwise flow through some of the output transistors (at zero signal conditions), being diverted through the speaker instead. But I don't think that would happen to any significant degree in the typical situation where the amp's output impedance is much less than the speaker's impedance, so that the amp behaves essentially like a voltage source.
In any event, it seems clear that the presence of signal would not raise the operating temperatures significantly above what they are at idle.
Thanks again!
-- Al