Class of amplifiers

[Midnite Mick]

Can somebody explain to me the different classes of amplifiers and what they mean. Still learning. Thank you!

[aaharvel]

wah-lah!

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/...ierclasses.php

[Midnite Mick]

wah-lah!

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/...ierclasses.php

Thank you sir.

[aaharvel]

think my Mosfet 5300 is class A, whereas the bi-polar 7300 is class B or class A/B. Heiney's the expert, he'd prob. know.

[Midnite Mick]

think my Mosfet 5300 is class A, whereas the bi-polar 7300 is class B or class A/B. Heiney's the expert, he'd prob. know.

I was thinking of buying the 5300. how is it

[aaharvel]

oh it's great. Smooth, relaxed mosfet sound. I popped the top of mine last weekend and was jawjacked. There's one on e-bay for a stupid $150, so there might be a catch.
If not well- like I said... just stupid.

[Midnite Mick]

not sure if smooth and relaxed is what i would like. Could it be interpreted as "dead" sounding

[aaharvel]

not really. Dead is dead. I attribute it to warm, laid back, smooth.

Sounds like you're a fan of the bright, aggressive type sound. What gear do you have?

[Midnite Mick]

i have just purchased a set of lsi15's and I did like the sound in the audition of them. However, i felt that they weren't being pushed to their potential as in the audition he was just using a higher end hk with no external. They sounded great to me "very real". However, to be honest i felt that the bottoms were lacking a bit, but I felt that I could fill them in later with peripherals and possibly adjust the frequency slightly. But the mids and highs to were perfect.

[Midnite Mick]

Also he did mention at the time that the audition room didnt seem to be condusive to bass. He added a sub to the sound and it didnt make much difference. So I do believe him

[aaharvel]

well one 5300 would drive 2lsi15s well. 125 high current watts X2. into 4ohms.

BUT- get two of those f--kers, prob. around $400 total on the bay- and then you're pushing 250x2 on those lsi15's.

that'd be sweeeeeet!!!!!!

[Midnite Mick]

Sorry I made a mistake. I was planning on getting the 5303 (3 channel for the front end)

[Midnite Mick]

whats your thoughts on that?

[Midnite Mick]

I must be getting tired! 5503

[Midnite Mick]

Sorry I have to leave. I don't want it to look like I am snubbing a question u might have asked. But I would really like to read what you think later. Thanks AA

[aaharvel]

5503 would drive lsi15s well.

[scottyf]

I don't find the LSi15's to be lacking in bass. They pretty much do it all in my system, though I do have a small room. If you don't mind sticking with two channels, I love my Alta Vista modified Counterpoint SA-12. The unmodified one sounds pretty good to start with. Also, Here's one on EBay

http://cgi.ebay.com/Counterpoint-SA-...QQcmdZViewItem

I have put $2500 in mods into mine and feel they elevate the amp to a level I've never owned before. Still, for $400, the stock form is a pretty amazing amp.

[heiney9]

think my Mosfet 5300 is class A, whereas the bi-polar 7300 is class B or class A/B. Heiney's the expert, he'd prob. know.

Well thanks for the title aaharvel, but I'm hardly an expert. I just do alot of reading. Both are what would be considered class A/B. Although I suspect because of the properties of Mosfet's (5300) it's probably biased to run in class A a bit longer (perhaps as much as 10-15watts) before switching to A/B. Whereas the bi-polar counter part is more likely in the 5-10 watt range.

See article for a more indepth explanation

http://www.1388.com/columnists/jon_faq_amp.htm#21

Adcom's are very solid pieces and benefit from the simpler is better design perspective. All Adcom's have only 3 gain stages, while most other amps have 5 or more. They don't employ any current limiting circuits, just internal PS DC rail fuses. They have very robust output sections and ample PS to really drive low impedence loads and give lots of headroom.

As far as Mosfets vs. Bi-polar. I perfer the Bi-polar designs as they seem to be more articulate have a more solid bottom end (lots of control over the drivers). But really the difference is very slight. Bi-polars may show other weakness in you up stream components more so than Mosfets. Really for the cost Adcom's are a very solid choice.

If you are really interested and have time (or are bored) here is a great link explaining the basic principles of all popular types of amplifiers.

http://sound.westhost.com/amp-basics.htm

EDIT: Ignore all the technical/mathematic stuff in the above article. If you are worried about understanding EVERY little thing in the article you might miss the big picture. Just getting a general idea of how current, voltage, ohm and watt relate in the most general sense is all that matters.

FWIW

H9