Class A amp?

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

By topology, you mean? Mathematical difference? Is this relevant? Perhaps I am misunderstanding what you mean, Squeak. Are you implying that one amplifier does not have tonal differences from another? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

And maybe Im wrong but this rubbed my the wrong way so if you were simply asking a question than I apologize for coming off like a prick.

 

[tonyroc14 10+ year member]

And maybe Im wrong but this rubbed my the wrong way so if you were simply asking a question than I apologize for coming off like a prick.

your not a prick, some people are just to defensive

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Funny at the one guy getting all defensive over topology, bahaha!

Anyway, I just wanted to say that amp rack is *******!

 

[cblaze 10+ year member]

if you are gonna do class a amps.you better have the heck of a alt.they dont idle at around 1 amp like most amps do when no music is playing.they use the same amount of power if u got your cd player paused or playing.

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

As already stated, controlled tests will reveal no audible differences in sound. IMO, there are much better ways to improve the sound of the audio system, and trying to improve on it with the use of expensive components that do nothing further than to continue to greatly exceed the threshold of audibility is silly. But if anyone's still up for wasting energy, know that just about all of these 'class A' amps are really class a/b amps with a higher bias in class a. I've seen a few that work in class a till around 20 watts before switching to class b, and perhaps there might be one or two that is full class a. But other than that, just about all others are your basic class a/b amps, which is just fine, in fact better than class a amps, for real world usage.

 

[2critical 10+ year member]

Add another "class A" amp to your list guys. The Critical Mass ULA-A4x350 & the ULA-A2x700.

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

Here is a real class A 100W monoblock home amplifier.

Two of them for 2ch audio.

http://www.passlabs.com/images/xa.5%20images/xa5_images.htm

Compare the physical size to car audio amplifier that claims to be class A

at a higher power level //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[2critical 10+ year member]

Here is a real class A 100W monoblock home amplifier.Two of them for 2ch audio.

http://www.passlabs.com/images/xa.5%20images/xa5_images.htm

Compare the physical size to car audio amplifier that claims to be class A

at a higher power level //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

Maybe technological advances have made it possible to do no? Remember how big computers used to be?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Add another "class A" amp to your list guys. The Critical Mass ULA-A4x350 & the ULA-A2x700.

I can state with unarguable certainty that both the ULA-A4x350 and the ULA-A2x700 are NOT a pure class A amplifiers if the specs on the website are accurate. Class A amplifiers have a maximum efficiency of 25% (mind you that's maximum, so most will fall even below this level of efficiency). So what type of current draw would a 1400w RMS amplifier have on an electrical system ? Well, if we very favorably assume that the efficiency is indeed 25% and it's operating on a steady 14.4V electrical system, it would draw a continuous 388A. Not during peaks. Not only a full volume with sine waves. CONSTANTLY.

So, it's pretty easy to reasonably demonstrate that the amplifier does indeed at some point operate in something other than Class A. Now, it's entirely possible that the amplifiers have what is called a "high bias". Which essentially means they operate in class A mode up to higher levels of power than what most other class A/B amplifiers do. Some examples of this would be the old Monolithic amplifiers. A more recent example would be the Tru A Class, which operated in class A up to 25w per channel (then switched to class B).

A simple tell here, and for any class A/B amplifier, is the amount of idle current draw. Since we know that class A amps will continuously draw full power from the electrical system, even at idle, the amount of idle current draw will represent the maximum amount of power the amplifier can supply before falling out of class A operation. For example, if the idle current draw was 2A, with our knowledge of 25% maximum efficiency and an assumption (if we don't know the actual voltage) of an input voltage of 14.4V, we know that best-case-scenario for class A output is 7.2w total (for a 2-channel amp, that would be 3.6w per channel).

So, what is the idle current draw of those Critical Mass amps ? Because I highly doubt it's 388A //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[2critical 10+ year member]

I can state with unarguable certainty that both the ULA-A4x350 and the ULA-A2x700 are NOT a pure class A amplifiers if the specs on the website are accurate. Class A amplifiers have a maximum efficiency of 25% (mind you that's maximum, so most will fall even below this level of efficiency). So what type of current draw would a 1400w RMS amplifier have on an electrical system ? Well, if we very favorably assume that the efficiency is indeed 25% and it's operating on a steady 14.4V electrical system, it would draw a continuous 388A. Not during peaks. Not only a full volume with sine waves. CONSTANTLY.
So, it's pretty easy to reasonably demonstrate that the amplifier does indeed at some point operate in something other than Class A. Now, it's entirely possible that the amplifiers have what is called a "high bias". Which essentially means they operate in class A mode up to higher levels of power than what most other class A/B amplifiers do. Some examples of this would be the old Monolithic amplifiers. A more recent example would be the Tru A Class, which operated in class A up to 25w per channel (then switched to class B).

A simple tell here, and for any class A/B amplifier, is the amount of idle current draw. Since we know that class A amps will continuously draw full power from the electrical system, even at idle, the amount of idle current draw will represent the maximum amount of power the amplifier can supply before falling out of class A operation. For example, if the idle current draw was 2A, with our knowledge of 25% maximum efficiency and an assumption (if we don't know the actual voltage) of an input voltage of 14.4V, we know that best-case-scenario for class A output is 7.2w total (for a 2-channel amp, that would be 3.6w per channel).

So, what is the idle current draw of those Critical Mass amps ? Because I highly doubt it's 388A //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

your wealth of knowledge never ceases to amaze me.

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

Maybe technological advances have made it possible to do no? Remember how big computers used to be?

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

your wealth of knowledge never ceases to amaze me.

You can question his spirituality, but don't question his 12v knowledge

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

2critical, I would love to hook up some day if your in the mid south some time. by the way I'm keeping the ul

 

[valter 10+ year member]

It is almost impossible to make commercial pure A-class solid state amp. Especially for car audio.

 

[ally2dextreme 10+ year member]

The Word Is Flat ! The World Is Flat!!