Thursday, January 2, 2014

How To Shop For Power Amplifiers

By Sherry Lambert


Recent amplifiers exist in all shapes and sizes. Finding the perfect model for your application may frequently be tough. There is a large number of different names and terms describing audio amps, just like "Class D" or "T-amp". Furthermore, each producer shows a large number of specifications, such as "SNR", "dynamic distortion" and so on. In this expose, I will have a glimpse at one of the most fundamental of these terms: "amplifier output wattage". This term is also often called "wattage".

If you are exploring to purchase an audio amp to install your home speakers, you will often be faced with a number of weird terms describing its functioning. However how do these numbers relate to how the amplifier sounds and how are these to be interpreted? Let me now proceed and explain the power rating of audio amplifiers.

The output wattage of the audio amplifiers is given as "wattage". This shows how loud your amplifier may drive your loudspeakers. Based on your application, you can choose a little amp offering merely a few watts or a bigger one offering several hundred watts. Many home stereos only come with amps which have several watts output power which usually is adequate for a small space. If you plan to shake your walls then you clearly wish to opt for an amplifier that has as much as a few hundred watts. Many amplifiers will show growing music distortion as output power increases. As a result, you want to pick an amp which offers bigger output power than you will actually need. This is going to ensure that you will never drive the amplifier into areas of high distortion.

Nonetheless, whilst the rms spec is going to tell you more about the amplifier's true performance, be certain though that the amp has a peak power spec that is substantially higher than the rms spec. This is because very likely you will be using the amp to amplify music or voice. Music and voice signals by nature always fluctuate regarding their power, i.e. the power envelope of the signal will vary over time. Having adequate headroom is necessary because music signals differ a great deal from sine wave signals which are used to measure rms output power. Brief bursts of high power are often found in music signals. These bursts will drive the amplifier into high distortion unless the peak power is big enough.

Please note that frequently the peak power of the amp will depend upon the impedance of your loudspeakers which is commonly between 4 and 8 Ohms. Amps have a limited output voltage swing resulting from the fixed internal supply voltage. Hence the highest output power is going to vary depending on the speaker impedance. The lower the loudspeaker impedance the higher the maximum power the amp can output. If the highest output power is not referenced to a speaker impedance, you ought to contact the producer. Typically a 4-Ohm loudspeaker is used as a reference.




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