kasperbergholt Messages: 44 Registered: August 2021 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Baron
Rusty wrote on Sat, 23 October 2021 11:31
Doesn't the correlation between your speakers sensitivity and the number of A-watts you are concerned with come down to your listening level and program material? Do you feel that the purity of the A class will be diminished by switching into class A/B? Your speakers being of a lower sensitivity would require more watts wouldn't they to get the sound pressure level of a higher sensitivity speaker? Depending on the source say vinyl or digital, and the type of music you listen to.
Regarding 1) It will - but I don't think I can calculate when the shift from A to A/B happens if I don't know when the amp switches - e.g. at 2 watts or 6 or 10 (or higher).
I'll follow the suggestion of contacting the manufacturer directly
Regadring 2) purity of class A. Many people do it seems. I have very limited listening experiences of pure class A (and that's primarily been tube amplifiers (Audio Note P1SE and P2SE).
John Curl answers the question in an interview in the following manner:
"All else being equal the more Class A you have the better. We don't need a
full Class A amplifier, because people don't listen to full power levels all
the time. They really need only 10 Watts or so because that is where most
of our listening is done. However, getting that 10 Watts of Class A is really
quite a feat considering of the all other constraints of having 200 Watts
Class AB in reserve. The Class A portion is always smoother and better,
while the Class AB is always a bit rougher because it is against the law of
physics. It breaks the music into positive and negative cycles and then
splices them back together."