What The Hell is Class A?

[AnthonyInTX]

Hi friends,
 
Apologies if this is a stupid question and/or there's a post out there explaining this in detail. I haven't been able to find a lot of information here so I thought I'd see what I could discover here.
 
For Christmas I received an Aune B1 portable amp. It's fantastic--really helps round out the sound from my player and headphones. It's got a "Class A" switch that doesn't seem to do much in terms of improving or changing the sound; all it seems to do is make the B1 run hot.
 
Can anyone explain to me what "Class A" means? The only info I've found has been a bit confusing and doesn't really explain anything very well. Any links providing more information are welcome as well.
 
Please dumb your explanation down as much as possible. I'm definitely not an electrical engineer, and while my mom says I'm pretty smart , this one's been a head scratcher.

 

[MindsMirror]

Class A is a type of amplifier topology. You can read about them here. Class A is best for sound quality and low distortion, but it is wasteful and dissipates power (making heat) even when there is no signal to be amplified. I'm not sure what the alternative is, or what your amp does with the Class A switch off. If it doesn't sound worse, you might as well use it with the switch off and save some battery life.

 

[AnthonyInTX]

That is exactly what I needed to know. Thank you!