Horses for Courses? (matching amp class to music type)

[JMac]

I was having a conversation with someone yesterday who advised me against buying a pure class A amp due to the music I listen to (largely electronic based house, techno - that sort of thing) due to the fact that he believes AB is be better suited to respond to the quick shifts in dynamics and the relatively low power ouptut of class A hindering speaker control.

Just wondering if there is any credance to this or is he talking out of his backside?

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I was having a conversation with someone yesterday who advised me against buying a pure class A amp due to the music I listen to (largely electronic based house, techno - that sort of thing) due to the fact that he believes AB is be better suited to respond to the quick shifts in dynamics and the relatively low power ouptut of class A hindering speaker control.

Just wondering if there is any credance to this or is he talking out of his backside?

I would say most amplifiers will play anything as I was going to buy one to play heavy metal so should not be a issue but I would say class A does sound very good but very expensive but if your interested in class A I would be looking at the Arcam A49 as it’s going for half the price because of a replacement models .

this would be using common sense because you would get 50 watts of class A before it goes into class B this way your covering your self and obviously demo first just do not take my word for it .

 

[JMac]

Yes, the I posted on one of my other threads about the Arcam. It is very tempting and I might see if I can get one to audition. The problem (not directly related to the Class A question) is that I'm hoping to move house this year and its likely the listening space I'll have will reduced to a room approximately 4m x 6m but I still have ambitions of ultimately ending up with a pair of KEF Reference 3's and an Arcam P39 an P49 bi amped like this:

http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/hifi-package-16-arcam-a39-p49-kef-reference-3

Such as system would be realtively cheaper than the £12k if I can obtain ex-demo and discounted gear. I think I need to find a bigger house 🙂

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Yes, the I posted on one of my other threads about the Arcam. It is very tempting and I might see if I can get one to audition. The problem (not directly related to the Class A question) is that I'm hoping to move house this year and its likely the listening space I'll have will reduced to a room approximately 4m x 6m but I still have ambitions of ultimately ending up with a pair of KEF Reference 3's and an Arcam P39 an P49 bi amped like this:

http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/hifi-package-16-arcam-a39-p49-kef-reference-3

Such as system would be realtively cheaper than the £12k if I can obtain ex-demo and discounted gear. I think I need to find a bigger house 🙂

the Kef reference are pretty expensive the best part £8000 and I would of thought the room size would be ok for them

Rick at Music craft has a ex-demo Arcam A49 for sale if you go on his website that might save you some money but not sure what the Kefs go for ex-demo or secondhand

 

[CnoEvil]

I was having a conversation with someone yesterday who advised me against buying a pure class A amp due to the music I listen to (largely electronic based house, techno - that sort of thing) due to the fact that he believes AB is be better suited to respond to the quick shifts in dynamics and the relatively low power ouptut of class A hindering speaker control.

Just wondering if there is any credance to this or is he talking out of his backside?

As in everything, it depends on the Class A amp. My AMS 35i has ample power driving my 90dB speakers. It is powerful, has seismic, well controlled bass, lightening transient response and copes with all genres of music with ease.

 

[JMac]

My only concern with the A49 is that I'll alway wish I'd got a P49 though I expect the amplification stage is the same. The KEF's are my long(ish) term aim and I'm thinking I should be able to pick up a used/ex-demo pair for around 5-6k when funds allow. There's currently a set of Reference 5's on ebay for £8k at the moment (tempted to go buy a hanful of scratchcards!). Its interesting to see that the room size would be okay for the 3's. I'd have thought they'd need a bit more space to do them justice. My listening room doubles as my home office so I do tend to sit pretty much on top of my speakers. My Troels illuminator monitors are currently about 5-6 feet from my seating position.

 

[CnoEvil]

My only concern with the A49 is that I'll alway wish I'd got a P49 though I expect the amplification stage is the same. The KEF's are my long(ish) term aim and I'm thinking I should be able to pick up a used/ex-demo pair for around 5-6k when funds allow. There's currently a set of Reference 5's on ebay for £8k at the moment (tempted to go buy a hanful of scratchcards!). Its interesting to see that the room size would be okay for the 3's. I'd have thought they'd need a bit more space to do them justice. My listening room doubles as my home office so I do tend to sit pretty much on top of my speakers. My Troels illuminator monitors are currently about 5-6 feet from my seating position.

I don't think you will feel short-changed by the A49...and it's probably easier to locate at a saving than the C49 / P49.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

My only concern with the A49 is that I'll alway wish I'd got a P49 though I expect the amplification stage is the same. The KEF's are my long(ish) term aim and I'm thinking I should be able to pick up a used/ex-demo pair for around 5-6k when funds allow. There's currently a set of Reference 5's on ebay for £8k at the moment (tempted to go buy a hanful of scratchcards!). Its interesting to see that the room size would be okay for the 3's. I'd have thought they'd need a bit more space to do them justice. My listening room doubles as my home office so I do tend to sit pretty much on top of my speakers. My Troels illuminator monitors are currently about 5-6 feet from my seating position.

ok now understand your room setup so maybe not suitable then if you sit that close to your speakers but also look at the older Kefs reference speakers on eBay going for a lot cheaper then £6-7000

And in regards of the Arcam A49 would more then meet your needs and you could get one for around £2000 which is a lot of amplifier for the money

 

[Electro]

I was having a conversation with someone yesterday who advised me against buying a pure class A amp due to the music I listen to (largely electronic based house, techno - that sort of thing) due to the fact that he believes AB is be better suited to respond to the quick shifts in dynamics and the relatively low power ouptut of class A hindering speaker control.

Just wondering if there is any credance to this or is he talking out of his backside?

I would tend to agree with this having listened to some very expensive pure class A amplifiers but it really depends more on the speakers used with the class A amp.

A high efficiency easy to drive speaker can sound wonderful with a low powered class A amplifier but if your staple diet of music is heavy rock , metal, punk , techno EDM, etc then it might be better to avoid class A .*smile*

IMO class A amps and speakers should be bought as a matched pair to get the best out of both and not have to worry about transient headroom , when a class A amp reaches it's limit it does so very quicky and is very obvious to the listener so speaker matching is paramount to avoid dissapointment and wasted money.

This is not to say that that class A amps don't sound sublime with the right speakers and music .*good*

 

[CnoEvil]

I would tend to agree with this having listened to some very expensive pure class A amplifiers but it really depends more on the speakers used with the class A amp.

A high efficiency easy to drive speaker can sound wonderful with a low powered class A amplifier but if your staple diet of music is heavy rock , metal, punk , techno EDM, etc then it might be better to avoid class A .*smile*

IMO class A amps and speakers should be bought as a matched pair to get the best out of both and not have to worry about transient headroom , when a class A amp reaches it's limit it does so very quicky and is very obvious to the listener so speaker matching is paramount to avoid dissapointment and wasted money.

This is not to say that that class A amps don't sound sublime with the right speakers and music .*good*

Good Full Class A (SS) amps are expensive, usually double power into 4 Ohms and again into 2 Ohms and are reasonably versatile re speaker choice. To me, the downsides are more to do with the heat they produce and the power they pull from the plug.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I would tend to agree with this having listened to some very expensive pure class A amplifiers but it really depends more on the speakers used with the class A amp.

A high efficiency easy to drive speaker can sound wonderful with a low powered class A amplifier but if your staple diet of music is heavy rock , metal, punk , techno EDM, etc then it might be better to avoid class A .*smile*

IMO class A amps and speakers should be bought as a matched pair to get the best out of both and not have to worry about transient headroom , when a class A amp reaches it's limit it does so very quicky and is very obvious to the listener so speaker matching is paramount to avoid dissapointment and wasted money.

This is not to say that that class A amps don't sound sublime with the right speakers and music .*good*

Good Full Class A (SS) amps are expensive, usually double power into 4 Ohms and again into 2 Ohms and are reasonably versatile re speaker choice. To me, the downsides are more to do with the heat they produce and the power they pull from the plug.

yes they make a good heaters a specially on cold days like today that would come in handy

 

[Electro]

I would tend to agree with this having listened to some very expensive pure class A amplifiers but it really depends more on the speakers used with the class A amp.

A high efficiency easy to drive speaker can sound wonderful with a low powered class A amplifier but if your staple diet of music is heavy rock , metal, punk , techno EDM, etc then it might be better to avoid class A .*smile*

IMO class A amps and speakers should be bought as a matched pair to get the best out of both and not have to worry about transient headroom , when a class A amp reaches it's limit it does so very quicky and is very obvious to the listener so speaker matching is paramount to avoid dissapointment and wasted money.

This is not to say that that class A amps don't sound sublime with the right speakers and music .*good*

Good Full Class A (SS) amps are expensive, usually double power into 4 Ohms and again into 2 Ohms and are reasonably versatile re speaker choice. To me, the downsides are more to do with the heat they produce and the power they pull from the plug.

Tell me about it, my Electro monoblocks draw 230 watts continuously at idle with no load or signal and a couple of killowatts at full power, and they are only a high bias class AB amps , they are switched on 24/7 ! *shok*

If the electricity prices keep going up I might be making a phone call to Colin ( Nord ) . *sorry2*

 

[CnoEvil]

Tell me about it, my Electro monoblocks draw 230 watts continuously at idle with no load or signal and a couple of killowatts at full power, and they are only a high bias class AB amps , they are switched on 24/7 ! *shok*

If the electricity prices keep going up I might be making a phone call to Colin ( Nord ) . *sorry2*

Mine is over 400W at idle....so gets switched off.

 

[Macspur]

I was having a conversation with someone yesterday who advised me against buying a pure class A amp due to the music I listen to (largely electronic based house, techno - that sort of thing) due to the fact that he believes AB is be better suited to respond to the quick shifts in dynamics and the relatively low power ouptut of class A hindering speaker control.

Just wondering if there is any credance to this or is he talking out of his backside?

I used to own the Sugden Masterclass and when paired with some ATC SCM40's electronic music sounded amazing... the Masterclass can be picked up second hand or ex demo at quite a good price.

Mac

www.realmusicnet.wordpress.com

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I was having a conversation with someone yesterday who advised me against buying a pure class A amp due to the music I listen to (largely electronic based house, techno - that sort of thing) due to the fact that he believes AB is be better suited to respond to the quick shifts in dynamics and the relatively low power ouptut of class A hindering speaker control.

Just wondering if there is any credance to this or is he talking out of his backside?

I used to own the Sugden Masterclass and when paired with some ATC SCM40's electronic music sounded amazing... the Masterclass can be picked up second hand or ex demo at quite a good price.

Mac

www.realmusicnet.wordpress.com

I’ve also heard the sugden 21se with heavy metal music and it sounded pretty good and that doesn’t have a lot of Watts but managed the type of music ok with out clipping and the sugden was running Dali rubicon 6s which are 4ohm speakers .

 

[newlash09]

In my limited experience with class D, I found them to be fast and dynamic. And being dry doesn't matter on EDM tracks either.

 

[paulkebab]

with Cno if the speakers are easy to move there shouldn't be a problem. I certainly don't have any low-volume issues with EDM etc although I'm limited to 10WPC in pure A. My biggest bugbear is warmup time hence my recent thoughts on Nord.

 

[steve_1979]

Tell me about it, my Electro monoblocks draw 230 watts continuously at idle with no load or signal and a couple of killowatts at full power, and they are only a high bias class AB amps , they are switched on 24/7 !

Jesus!

*shok*

 

[Electro]

Tell me about it, my Electro monoblocks draw 230 watts continuously at idle with no load or signal and a couple of killowatts at full power, and they are only a high bias class AB amps , they are switched on 24/7 !

Jesus!

Exactly !

I have always wanted the top of the range Electrocompaniet Nemo's but the thought of 460 watts at idle and nearly 4 kilowatts at full power puts me off a bit *shok*, also to get the best out of them it's best to install a 30 amp electrical supply ! *shok*

My 180's do sound very good even from cold but they are quite special when warmed up for 2 or 3 hours and I use the system every day so it makes sence to leave them on all the time.

An Electro technician also told me that they last a lot longer without the stress of multiple switch on and off's .

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

One of the tech guy's at trichord also said the same thing and why I believe naim advise that owners keep their kit powered up at all times (apart from holidays etc).the sudden rush of electricity through the components....often... apparently shortens the life span of some electronics.

 

[paulkebab]

that most equipment today has a simple inrush current circuit with a timer to quench the on/off power surges.

 

[Electro]

that most equipment today has a simple inrush current circuit with a timer to quench the on/off power surges.

I think it's more about thermal stress rather than current surges.