New Sony Class A Amplifier, Sounds Good on Paper- anyone?

80 watts per channel class A ~ $2K sounds like a good deal on paper. Anyone heard this one?

http://store.sony.com/hi-res-integrated-2-channel-amplifier-zid27-TAA1ES/cat-27-catid-All-Res-Audio

 

Odd speaker jacks.

 

They look kinda cool.

 

send me a schematic. then I'll comment.

 

They look much better to me than the little standard ones, especially with my sausage fingers.

 

They seem to be the same speaker jacks as used on some of the big Accuphase class a pwr amps.

 

Interestingly, they call it a receiver. These days if you work in marketing, no-holds-barred approach is totally acceptable.

 

A place tried selling me one a couple weeks ago,I wasn't blown away from the sound on it,actually an Anthem 225 sounded better at least in the showroom.

 

Smells more like BS to me on paper. "Bias controlled by volume position" and "80w 8 ohm, 80w 4 ohm" makes the ad copy look like a smoke screen.

 

It is kind of ambiguous, "Class A circuitry" OK, so no class B transition up to rated power?
The Luxman Class A L-550AX (granted an upscale brand) lists for $4900 and is rated 20w/ channel @8ohms.
I have had Sony ES amplifiers in the past and really liked the sound, this one had me curious.

 

Right, it is what is not published there that is important. For instance, the current output capability, wattage draw at no input, bias configuration, stability into load. The specs that they do provide hint at a couple of problem areas and then leave out the important bits. The first of two problem areas are that the bias is not fixed, so it is not a true class A amplifier at all times, and we really have no way of knowing when or if it might be in class A operation. The class is often used to describe preamp stage and driver circuitry but not output stage bias. The weight of the amp at 40 lbs suggests that it does have some heat sinking, perhaps capable of safely dissipating 20w or so in Class A at output, but that is guessing and is likely very generous. The second problem area is stability into load and output current at load. They publish 80w at 8 ohms and 80w at 4 ohms, which could be in error but if it is correct, could also indicate that the amplifier is not really stable below 4 ohms without protective circuitry or that the amplifier has very little in the way of current delivery available. Either situation means the sound is likely to be clean but thin when compared to a true Class A biased amplifier or a tube amp for instance. The price is also a bit low for a class A amplifier, especially if it could do 40w or more in that mode.

For example, I have a Pass designed class A amplifier that is only rated at 30w and it weighs as much, it's entire chassis is basically a heat sink, and it is listed as having 25A per channel capability at output. It also doubles its power as the impedance is halved from 8 to 4 ohms, (30w to 60w) and then levels to a max of 60w at 2 ohms. So we know the amp is just stable to 2 ohms. It's not designed to be a power house at concert levels but rather a very powerful sounding amp at reasonable levels, which is exactly how I use an amp. That amp would cost about $3400 if new in today's market. I also make use of tube amps below 100w AB which also are very inefficient and yet sound as warm as they operate.

 

Those have to be the biggest jack protectors ever invented. Don't ever doubt Sony for thinking "BIG".

Crowded field at $2k.