A Journey Into the World of Class A

What is hot, extremely inefficient, but sounds really nice? A Class A amplifier.

A lot of times associated with tube amplifiers, a class A amp can be just as effective using transistors. Listening to the Leo Laporte podcast at Twit.tv, lead me to the Home Theater Geeks podcast found on the same site, which in turn, I found myself listening to a podcast featuring Nelson Pass form Pass Labs. Get inspired by the podcast with Nelson Pass HERE!

The above rendering is my concept for the enclosure of my class A amplifier project. If you ever dabbled in, or want to jump into the world of electronics, building a class A amplifier might be the perfect project to get you started. You can find all the info you need to get going at, Pass Labs, Pass DIY, and First Watt. All the help you need can be found at diyAudio. Due to the lower wattages a modest class A will output, you may want to research speakers that are more efficient thatn the typical offering such as the Jordan JX92S at Jordan-USA. Alternately, these can make very nice headphone amplifiers.

Designs can be as simple as some spare parts and light bulbs such as below, or as complex as you like to squeeze out every last drop of distortion as possible and maximize efficiency. So round up some parts and have fun!

This image is from the De-Lite Amplifier PDF by Nelson Pass, taken by Dana Brock.