amplifier classes

[outspoken 10+ year member]

i have read the summary on bcae's site and understand the difference, but what does it mean to my system... basically i am thinking of a hifonics 2 channel amp for my front stage but it is a class ab amp... does this mean it will easily overheat or be inefficient?

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[outspoken 10+ year member]

anyone? i read the sticky in the amp section but it said the same as the bcae site...

 

[thch 10+ year member]

i wouldn't worry too much. many people buy way oversized class AB amps which, when used at less than full output have really poor efficiency.

but yes, class AB is not too efficient. if the amp is located near a lot of air, and out of sunlight, you should be fine. even if the amp is under a seat I wouldn't be too concened, unless you've packed it in wool/ect...

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

There were only Class A/B for decades before Class D became prevalent in car audio. Even now more than 95% of the full range amps are Class A/B. If they were that prone to overheating, don't you think they'd have a smaller share of the market than that? Don't worry about them being inefficient because they aren't running into a low impedance and since they aren't making much power, they also aren't wasting much power.