Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Is Class A better than A/B?

I'd like to pose this question to some of the enthusiasts out there. Is there any sonic benefits going Class A vs Class A/B type amplification. That Marantz PM-7200 mentioned by 2X6spds seems interesting. I also had my eye on the Creek 5350se for sometime http://creekaudio.com/main_content.asp?catlook=53&content=53series
Will I get any sonic benefit replacing my 15 year old Bryston 4B with any of the two above? Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Sat, there are no sonic benefits, but the electric company will be grateful for using more of their service.

Oh...

Why so many brands? so many levels of power? and difference in prices. Also why is there a difference sonically when using my Pioneer Elite receiver vs. my Bryston 4B? Are all reviewers on those major magazines all bunk? I can't fathom how all those people are wrong?

Saturn,
If I were you I would just keep the Bryston and be done with it.I would personally love to have an amp of that quaulity,heck there's still 5 years left on the warranty.

It's one of two things, or both, IMO.

a) Placeabo
b) Power

Receivers can be starved of power if you blast it.

And a lot of those magazines review cables saying how much they improved the soundstage and gave life to the recording. It's funny to read. I'd like to see some blind test results from all of these magazines instead of placeabo.

But.. man. Bryston 4B - 300 watts into 8 ohms. You should be _done_ with amps. I can only dream ofhaving an amp of that quality and power. Blast it without distortion and be happy.

I question wheather class A is better than a higher end receiver. I recall a post here when I was looking into the issue by alan, where he said that he used to keep his lunch on top of the amp to keep it warm.

Do you really want something taking over 500 watts up constantly when you don't need it to?

Of course there is a difference. You are in a position to compare mass market equipment (Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha, Onkyo) with upscale equipment (Bryston, Creek, etc). If you hear a difference - and I know you will based on comparisons I have also done - then it exists....regardless of what others what you to believe.

You are seemingly comparing an integrated (Creek) with an amp (Bryston). Was this intentional? As mentioned, your Bryston is an excellent amp - but not simply because of power output. The Creek is also an excellent amp, but not directly comparable, unless you plan to bypass the preamp.

A note to all the people who mentioned "Increased Electric requirements" - simply because an amplifier mentions output (sonic) of 500watts, this does not mean that the draw from the local utility will be enough to be billed for 500 watts.

BTW, the difference in the amplifier output classes - to be simple - is to eliminate transistor anomalies when the waveform switches from positive to negative sections of the waveform. There are other reasons, but the main one is to stop the switching issues.

OK, how about a constant draw of 200-300 watts? Bad enough...

Why are those of you who believe that amps make a difference because they've heard it so sure that the placebo effect doesn't happen? I just recall my experience of comparing the M50s to the M22s with a 5 sec gap between in order to back up to the same passage on the CD. They sounded the same (because I really wanted them to?) But when we switched immediately in the stream of the music, they sounded different. Sonic memory is damn short, guys...

I thought the class A amps drew large amounts of power continuously, no?

They do, but the rated power output is not the same as the rated power input. However, it's still gonna be pretty high.