2. amps-preamps
  3. 1229984049

The "charactor" of pure Class A?

I have a pair of Clayton M300 in my set up for the next couple of months. Very nice.

I have to admit these are the first Class A amps I have spent any significant amount of time listening to and I am impressed.

My questions is, do Class A amps have a sonic signature of their own?

I like what I am listening to very much, but would like to be able to discern what might be a base class A sound against what Clatyon itself may bring to the sonic whole...

Comments?
jb8312
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
i have auditioned three class a amps. they sound different. my favorite was wonderful from 200hz and below, ok from 200 hz to the upper midrange and unsatisfactory from around 1000hz and higher.

i have owned and auditioned class d amps and other non class a solid state amps. i have a problem with ss amps in the upper mids/lower treble and with all but the most "well behaved" tube amps.

it is possible that some class a amps may be "kinder to the ear" in the mid range region, but too many are not.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
hi detlof:

i owned the ml 2s, i believe it was called, 25 watts of class a. i used them with a pair of quad 57s. they were not my amp of choice. the overall presentation was dry--no romance, no bloom. quads need tubes. while solid state may provide good bass response, i would not want to listen to violins, harsichords or cymbals.
detlof
1,899 posts
 
Hello MrT,
Yes you are right, they were called ML-2s. I had forgotten and yes, they sounded a tad dry, you are right there too, but at that time I could live with that because of their finesse and speed and I stuck with them until I discovered Jadis. You should try to audition a pair of Jadis 30 watt monos for your Quads. You might like them.
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