Class A vs AB vs D

[maggiesnmacs]

Here is my take ... I used to run a sound board for live venues. I have a lot of experience with hearing live instruments, vocals, etc. I have built and owned several amplifiers both tube and solid-state.

One day I went to the AKFest in Detroit and heard a set of 300B Class-A Audio Note monoblocks that melted my heart. I kept going back to that room and just listening. I came home and built a Class-A EL84 amp and recently finished an entire Class-A Nelson Pass setup with Pearl 2, Mezmerize and Aleph J.

I will NEVER go back to Class-AB, D, etc.!

I am just starting a Tubelab SE 300B amplifier and can't wait to get it finished!

My system is Klipschorns at 102dB sensitivity and with Class-A and it's even harmonics, it sounds like the instruments and musicians are in the room with you. To me, that was always missing with Class-AB comparing it to sitting beside a cymbal that was just struck or the tone of a Class-A guitar amp. My "theory" is that when you listen to live sound there is no invisible filter removing the even harmonics, so I want my system to produce odds AND evens! 😀

Have you done any blind testing of your findings of class a vs ab? I've heard many testimonies of a sounding better than ab but again haven't experienced it myself and can't really find any blind tests that support that finding

 

[craigtone]

Have you done any blind testing of your findings of class a vs ab? I've heard many testimonies of a sounding better than ab but again haven't experienced it myself and can't really find any blind tests that support that finding

I've compared the 2 but not blindly. At one time I had my old highly modified ST-70 and the EL84 SET at the same time and would switch back and forth. The AB sounded "good" but the A sounded "natural". I did the comparison for other audiophile friends and they have since switched to Class A also FWIW.

 

[DPH]

^ So, no, not blinded. At all.

 

[still4given]

Listening to different systems in different rooms, different speakers, different source material, etc will change everything. I have built maybe 50+ different amps over the past year and a half. All have been auditioned over my A/B setup. Once the output loudness is equalized it is nearly impossible to hear a difference between them. I fully agree with the Clark study. I have never tested a class D amp however.