What speakers owl? I have Maggie 20.7. I know someone online driving them w the xa100.5 and loves them. I’m a 75-90 db guy. Max.
For the bass, that’s not what I experience with my Plinius SA 103 used as a pair of monoblocks. They can be switched between A and AB with the press of a button (very nice feature : for background music while eating or reading, class AB and no heat / for serious listening, class A and about a kW of heat). Anyway, there’s more and better bass in class A.
Specs used as monos: 400W into 8 ohms, 730W into 4 ohms. One third of the power in pure class A.
timm,
Here’s an article on the Pass Labs site that might be worth perusing . . .
Or feel free to just call Pass labs with questions. They’re super helpful, and I’ve had Nelson himself answer the phone on one occasion.
I know several people who have migrated from BHK to Gryphon/Pass/Luxman class A and are very happy with the upgraded sound. I don’t know anyone who has gone the other direction (from one of those class A amps to BHK and stuck with it), though I’m sure there are some.
On the tonality spectrum from warm to neutral, my sense is it goes BHK → Pass → Luxman → Gryphon (depending on Gryphon amp - Essence/Constellation more neutral than slightly warmer Antilleon Evo). But I could be wrong about BHK being warmer than Pass - never heard BHK, only going by reviews/comments here or from those I know who’ve owned it. Luxman and Pass class A are close tonality wise also - both pretty sweet sounding (in comparison to dead neutral sounding).
Just my opinion, of course. YMMV
I own the Coda Technology # 8 v1 that is biased for the first 18 watts into class A. Afterwards…150 into 8/ 300 into 4/600 into 2… class AB. My speakers are 90 dB/nominal 6 ohm…Class A through them sounds sublime. The meters on the front of the amp never show going past 5-6 watts for my average listening levels of up to 95 dB…which is pretty loud without doubt.The very high current output design helps with the awesome bass slam I’m sure…Having higher power class A seems like overkill…unless your speakers demand high wattage to get to the required dB levels.A few Class A watts seem to go a very long way!
Plus you can make toast on the amp while you are listening 
I like toast… mark that on one of the benefits. 
Hthaller. So I’ve seen this spec before on the xa100.5. Leaves class A at 200w per this document. In reading- it almost indicates that is at 8 ohm. I figured that was 4 ohm. Any clue?
I think it would be a good selling point. Maybe make the wife appreciate the amps (or boxes as my wife calls them) a little more.
It’s really interesting that 100+ year old vacuum tube tech is still thought of as the pinnacle in recorded music playback.And like most consumer grade tech was trickled down from a war machine effort.
So warmth in my basement in Michigan is very welcome whether winter or summer.as the AC falls there in the summer and well winter is winter.
Jay would agree with you.
As for me …being retired…and desiring affordable Class A while retaining
the virtues of Class A if even for the first few watts I acquired a Parasound
A21 power amp with first 8 watts Class A then on to 250 watts Class AB.
Truly the A21 is a wonderful amp very revealing…then 5 years later I got
bit while entertaining the possibilities of the new Parasound JC5…
The JC5 brings with it the concept of 2 JC1s on one chassis, first 12 watts
Class A then on to 400 watts Class AB…The JC5 brings many refinements
to the table way above and beyond my former A21.
The beautifully nuanced minute details and spatial retrieval are outstanding!
Feeding my JC5 is a P15 regenerator…which enables the very high degree of
finesse as well as authority …really wonderful…driving my Focal Aria 948s.
Here is a well done descriptive and comparative review from Audiobacon.
If budget is a consideration the JC5 could be the ticket
Best wishes
The Parasound amps look really interesting. I was looking at the JC1+ pair as an option. They look really well made and highly thought of.
Baldy they are very solidly built…and hold their value well…
I traded my 5 year old A21 for my JC5 and got 77% value
for the A21…even after 5 years.
Tain’t bad at all…
So my JC5 runs about 107 F and maybe 115 F when playing
with peaks in the 90db range…Not too bad either…
It currently resides on an amp stand betweeen my 2 Aria 948s.
Music Direct offers a 60 day trial…
The JC1+ would be the ultimate at the upper limits affordable…
Oh and btw they can hardly keep the JC5 instock!!
Best wishes Baldy
I understand what people are saying about “my amp runs first __ watts in class A,” but it’s a little bit misleading to be comparing things like JC5 or Coda to fully-spec’d class A Gryphon or Luxman or Pass Labs amps.
The latter are components that are fully spec’d with class A ratings at 8 ohms and 4 ohms for full class A operation over the enitre specified power band. The Parasounds and others (Coda, e.g.), do not do that. Sure they can say we run __ watts in class A, and I don’t doubt that they do, but they are not “Class A amplifiers” - they are class A/B.
It’s perhaps a technicality, but it is an important one. If you want class A/B Luxman or Pass Labs, they have those as well, and sure those amplifiers run the first few watts in class A (like Parasound or Coda), but they are not advertised as class A amplifiers (because they are not class A amplifiers). Now notably Parasound and Coda don’t advertise their amps as class A either, but this thread is titled “Class A” amplifiers, so discussion of Parasound or Coda probably belongs in a different thread, because they are most certainly NOT class A amplifiers. Just my opinion.
@davida Thanks for the info. The Parasound and also Decware TORII mono’s are at the top of my “upgrade” list. There is a stocking Parasound dealer not too far away … . .
No it is not misleading… this is how John Curl designed them…and no they are not
simply Class AB they are Class A/AB.
The Parasound JC1+ and JC5 are top notch amps with quality ingredients…
at more attainable price points for those of us who are not so well endowed.
Yep kzk opinionated is right…this is an open discussion forum and inclusion
of Class A/AB here is correct…
Best wishes
Class A/AB? That’s a made-up label. Not widely recognized. All class A/B amplifiers operate for a portion of time in class A. The designer can tweak how long that is with various tradeoffs based on biasing.
All I’m saying is that they are not “class A” amps, which this thread concerns, they are class AB. Not denigrating their quality. I’m sure they’re great amps, just not class A. I’m not saying don’t discuss necessarily (I guess that’s the OP’s prerogative but based on his thread title he was interested in class A), but let’s be clear about what they are, class A/B (nothing wrong with that).
Are BHK amps class A because (according to OP original post) they operate in class A for 1 watt? Nobody would claim that.
My system is:
- Homebuilt/100% DIY Pass Labs Aleph 60 built as an Aleph 30 (see attached pics)
** I had a little help directly from Nelson Pass interpreting his schematic in the gain stage.
** It has a fan, but not hooked-up. I build a could of these chassis’s in my shop to DIY tinker. - Bi-wired Magnepan 1.6QR’s
- Mogami balanced interconnects & speaker wired
- OPPO Sonica DAC (which I’m looking to replace with a PS DirectStream DAC when prices drop for new model)
I’ve never auditioned a PS audio Amp, I’m sure they are amazing. Pass Labs Class A is just stunning. Warm and romantic like tubes, yet lightning fast transient response with minuscule noise floor. Sonically it has all the advantages of tubes combined with advantages of semiconductors.
Made up you say…
Just for you then:
Never said that they were Class A purely…but Class A/AB indeed!!
Best wishes