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
One of the primary things that all class A amps seem to have in common is a sense of authority. They just seem to carry more weight or body in the music.

There are so many variables in amplifier design that going beyond that simple statement gets tricky :)
Not familiar with Clayton...but pure class a amps do not switch power classifications( such as a/b amps)...run hot...as they give you all they have all the time...and are much truer to retaining an original square wave signal...however...since most general low-level listening doesnt require gobs of power or head room...class a/b amps operate in class a more than one would think....or that is my very limited understanding...sure others will chime in...happy holidays....
Phasecorrect:
Yes many A/B amps still operate in class A up to the first 1 to 3 watts, and if you've ever watched an amplifier with power meters while the music plays you are usually amazed at how much of the time the meter hangs around 1 to 5 or so watts. It's the 20 db peaks that get us...
Not all "class A" amps are PURE class A, also. I had a 50 watt per channel class A Forte model 1a which I think is a good amp and sort of has the classic class A sound, also had the original Music Fidelity A1 25 watts per channel, the sound was a bit on the rich, warm full sound, not at all harsh, strident, thin, or analytical. I believe that is the sort of thing most would agree is the "Class A experience". I would imagine an extremely expensive pure class A amp like the big old Thresholds, Levinsons, Benini, Krell, etc. would give a better representation than my Forte 1a.
"many A/B amps still operate in class A up to the first 1 to 3 watts"
Xiekitchen that's what I thought too. Then a recently read somewhere some blend class A with class B and it's not a pure switch over.
Not sure of the technicalities but it appears that some class A/B amps never operate in pure class A at all.

Stereophile said class A amps are not good for rock music. More classical, jazz, etc.