Looking for a class A low watt power amp recommendation

I would like to buy a Pioneer M22. Those things sound fantastic, but are very hard to find. Any other recommendations?
Thanks

 

Pass Labs F5 Turbo

 

I've owned a fair number of class a amps over the years. Never had one for long and you couldn't give me one now.

 

First Watt J2.....it is marvelous!

I see that Papa Pass is going to build more of the J2s.

Or, a First Watt F6.......

 

The Pass Labs Aleph 3 comes up for sale once in a while, and of course Nelson Pass had a series of similar designs for the DIY community, some parts kits are out there too.

There are a few international listings for the m22, including a couple in Canada right now and one from Japan on ebay that has been recapped ... Used Pioneer M-22 Stereo power amplifiers for Sale | HifiShark.com

If you don't mind integrated, the Luxman L-550AX is a beautiful amp, and I've seen some nice deals lately. One was just auctioned on ebay last week, and I think it went for around $1700 (retail is around $5000). One came up on Audiogon or USAM a while back for around $1600, but it was sold almost immediately.

 

There's a local guy who had one of those listed on Craigslist a month or two ago. He runs a vintage electronics shop and specializes in guitar and vintage amps/receivers. I was in his shop and saw that the M22, it was a beautiful piece. Here's a link to his generic Craigslist ad if you wanted to call him. Matoon is a couple hours from Brownsburg, IN.
Vintage speakers and more!! **Updated 9/13/17**

 

I have a friend who runs a pair of Monarchy Audio SM-70 pros in bridged mode. That's 70 watts of class A power.

 

Guess I wasn't paying attention at the end, it actually went for just over $2000 ... www.ebay.com/itm/Luxman-L-550AX-Stereo-Integrated-Power-Amplifier-w-Phono-Stage-Made-in-Japan/232470269345?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

 

I am curious as to why?

It has been my long understanding that class-A is the darling of the audiophile community. This is both with SS amps and pre-amps as well as tube SET's?

 

They're a PITA. They run hot, run out of juice, and don't sound that much better than a good class AB amp. There are exceptions... systems where it's a really good combination. You know.... small rooms and low volumes.

The original (from 35 years ago) British Fidelity A1 was an amazing sounding amp. But it took them maybe a week to blow up. I remember the importer telling me he had boxes of dead A1's 'stacked to the ceiling'.

I think class A is kind of a dead end. Something people experiment with but don't stick with long term. But that's just me, I'm sure lots of other people have different thoughts on this subject.

 

Older Threshold amp might be a good compromise. They run about 20% class A and then switches over to AB. I a very happy owner of a Threshold S200.

 

Here's a nice amp that you can run strictly class A or switched to class A/B for more power. The amp in the ad is probably priced twice as high as it should be. Cairn KO 2 Class A Balanced Amplifier

I have a Cairn 4808A integrated amp which runs class A for first 10 watts and switches to A/B up to 30 watts. One of the amps I'll never sell.

 

Other than price or weight, is there a reason you specified low watt? Would you not want a 100 watt Class A amplifier?

 

The F5 is low wattage, the turbo not so much! I find 25W class A is plenty, at least in this amp.

 

Price mostly. A good high watt class A would require many or massive transformers and a lot of fins to handle the heat.

 

There's the Sony TA-A1ES. It's sort of a quasi class A integrated with 80 watts/ch. It adjusts the bias with volume, so remains in class A most of the time.

I recently auditioned one of these. It's very good for low volume listening, but does sort of peter out beyond 85 db SPLs with my speakers. Not surprisingly, it puts out a lot of heat.

They can be found lightly used for $1K, and they're a great bargain at that price, IMO.

 

Yes, and you would need to have a refrigeration unit installed in your listening room.

 

Along with weight and power consumption, that was what dissuaded me when I was considering one of these.

SoundStage! Ultra | SoundStageUltra.com (UltraAudio.com) | SoundStage! Ultra |
SoundStageUltra.com (UltraAudio.com)

 

When running strictly in a class-"A" the current, at the rated watts, is continuously flowing at the maximum wattage, even though there may be no signal at the input.

This is about as inefficient as you get.

These amplifier designs have been around since the early days of "low powered" tube amplifier's.

But, with the invention of class A/B amplifier's, no one was really going back to class-A amplification.

Not that class-A is inherently bad, it's not, but four many, we choose to be satisfied to restricting class-A to pre-amps, and power amps that utilize class A/B circuitry to put out a significantly more powerful signal.

Those are the classic tube amplifier's like the McIntosh's and Marantz's, Fisher and Scott receivers...

I have eight tube amplifier's, some are modern, some are vintage and, all but one operate in class A/B. It is a small Decware, SEP (Single ended pentode) that puts out all of 3.9-WPC.

While, 3.9 watts, isn't going to reproduce a Led Zeppelin at concert levels, having highly efficient horn speakers on the tube side of things, I can reproduce audio at a pleasant room filling volume level.

For someone with average efficiency speakers, say about 87-dB, you are not just going to be able to squeeze a realistic level of volume and dynamics out of a typical class-A flea watt amplifier, as specially, some of the lower wattage models like a 2AC and AC3, when operated in a single ended circuit. The 300B's can typically put out a far more powerful (by comparison) at around 8-watts.

Even then, you need some rather efficient speakers to be able to rock to arena.

At the end of the day, the most practical amplification is class A/B (that is until class-Z is perfected ).

 

I would definitely be looking at Pass Labs. Check out Reno Hifi's site for some killer used Pass gear.

 

First Watt SIT-2, if you can find it, and at a "reasonable" price. Those usually get snapped up almost immediately.

 

Plus, we forgot to ask - what is the budget? If you can swing $3K, there's a wonderful Class A SET integrated amp, with 300B tubes and 15 WPC output, you can now get certified pre-owned directly from a venerable US manufacturer.

I've been salivating at it myself, but simply have no room (or gear to hook up to it) for a fourth amp in my 1-bedroom apt.

 

A single ended 300B is good for about eight watts if the tube is run within WE tube manual limits. A pair in push pull true class A twice that.

So I presume it is a parallel single ended unit. Since they are cathodeless, current matching could take some effort.

 

Constant 200+ watt power draw per channel, and the heat.

 

Yesterday was the first day I had the quasi-class A Sony TA-A1ES in my system. I pulled up my online "Energy Dashboard," and it claims I used about 40% more power yesterday than the previous few days. The only difference in my routine/ usage was this amp.