Seeking hot running amps

Ah yes, heat. Class A operation is the reason for heat. Fact is, if you want it to sound right, it has to be class A.

I've never understood why a person would spend thousands or 10s of thousands on a stereo and then compromise the whole thing (and the investment) because they were worried about heat.

A customer of ours in Guatemala runs one of our big amps and has no air conditioning. Instead, he has ductwork positioned in the corners of the room where the amps are, and has a fan at the other end of the ductwork, drawing the air out of the house. His room stays comfortable year round even if the amps are on all day (I know I was there), yet the room is quiet. Elegant solution.

Well, there is more than just "HEAT" when there is heat, there are tradeoffs, for every degree something runs hot, there is a reduction in reliability, as well, the heat comes from somewhere, it's energy, wasted energy, you wouldn't run your car full throttle all the time an use the brake to go 30 miles an hour, there are intelligent ways to use energy

Joule Electra OTL tube-based amps. I have a pair of their 100 watt versions in my dedicated Canadian basement listening room. I close off the heating ducts to the room and turn on the amps an hour before I listen. Works great for me - I STILL have to have a blanket on when I listen to music in the winter.

My vote goes to the Mccormack DNA-1. The fact that it operated so hot, actually contributed to my getting rid of it. An excellent sounding amp.

Thanks
Roger.

Allanbhaganinfo, your analogy does not work. Class A amplifiers generate heat because they are on all the time. The engine in your car makes heat- all the time- because it is on all the time too. But it is not correct to compare the two!

Class A amplifiers get used not because they make heat but because they are the best sounding amplifiers made. IOW, any amp that is not class A won't sound as one that is (all other things being equal). Especially when one is investing thousands of dollars in an amplifier, one ought to be aware that the sound quality investment is better served by an amp that is class A (and runs hot).

It is assumed that the amplifier is also designed to handle the heat that it makes- we've been making class A amplifiers for the last 28 years and so far the heat of the tubes has not caused us any reliablity issues- and we get good tube life too. Its all in the how you handle Class A requirements.