Are you looking to acquire a new amp for your home speakers? You might be dazzled by the amount of choices you have. In order to make an informed choice, it is best to familiarize yourself with popular specs. One of these specs is called "signal-to-noise ratio" and is not often understood. I will help clarify the meaning of this expression. Whilst searching for an amplifier, you firstly are going to check the cost, power amid other essential criteria. Nonetheless, after this initial selection, you will still have quite a few products to choose from. Now you are going to concentrate more on several of the technical specs, such as signal-to-noise ratio as well as harmonic distortion. Every amplifier will make a certain amount of hiss as well as hum. The signal-to-noise ratio will help compute the level of hiss created by the amplifier.
When looking for an amplifier, you firstly are going to check the price, wattage among additional fundamental criteria. Nonetheless, after this initial selection, you are going to still have numerous products to choose from. Next you are going to concentrate more on a few of the technical specifications, like signal-to-noise ratio in addition to harmonic distortion. Every amp will produce a certain level of hiss and hum. The signal-to-noise ratio is going to help calculate the level of noise created by the amp.
A method to accomplish a simple check of the noise performance of an amplifier is to short circuit the amp input and then to crank up the amplifier to its maximum. Subsequently listen to the loudspeaker that you have connected. The noise that you hear is produced by the amplifier itself. After that compare several amps according to the following rule: the smaller the level of noise, the better the noise performance of the amp. However, bear in mind that you must set all amplifiers to amplify by the same level in order to compare several amps. To help you evaluate the noise performance, amplifier manufacturers show the signal-to-noise ratio in their amp spec sheets. Simply put, the larger the signal-to-noise ratio, the smaller the amount of noise the amplifier produces. One of the reasons why amps generate noise is the fact that they utilize components such as transistors as well as resistors which by nature generate noise. The overall noise depends on how much noise every component creates. However, the location of these elements is also vital. Elements which are part of the amplifier input stage are going to in general contribute most of the noise.
Most of latest power amplifiers are digital amps, also called "class-d amplifiers". Class-D amplifiers use a switching stage which oscillates at a frequency in the range of 300 kHz to 1 MHz. This switching frequency is also noise which is part of the amplified signal. On the other hand, today's amplifier specs normally only consider the hiss between 20 Hz and 20 kHz.
The signal-to-noise ratio is measured by feeding a 1 kHz test tone 60 dB underneath the full scale and measuring the noise floor of the amp. The volume of the amp is set such that the full output wattage of the amplifier can be realized. After that, only the noise in the range of 20 Hz and 20 kHz is considered. The noise at different frequencies is eliminated through a filter. Subsequently the amount of the noise energy in relation to the full-scale output power is calculated and shown in db.
Frequently the signal-to-noise ratio is shown in a more subjective manner as "dbA" or "A weighted". This method tries to evaluate in how far the amplifier noise is perceived by human hearing which is most perceptive to signals at frequencies at 1 kHz. As a result an A-weighting filter will amplify the noise floor for frequencies which are easily perceived and suppress the noise floor at frequencies which are barely noticed. A lot of amps will have a higher A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio than the un-weighted ratio.
When looking for an amplifier, you firstly are going to check the price, wattage among additional fundamental criteria. Nonetheless, after this initial selection, you are going to still have numerous products to choose from. Next you are going to concentrate more on a few of the technical specifications, like signal-to-noise ratio in addition to harmonic distortion. Every amp will produce a certain level of hiss and hum. The signal-to-noise ratio is going to help calculate the level of noise created by the amp.
A method to accomplish a simple check of the noise performance of an amplifier is to short circuit the amp input and then to crank up the amplifier to its maximum. Subsequently listen to the loudspeaker that you have connected. The noise that you hear is produced by the amplifier itself. After that compare several amps according to the following rule: the smaller the level of noise, the better the noise performance of the amp. However, bear in mind that you must set all amplifiers to amplify by the same level in order to compare several amps. To help you evaluate the noise performance, amplifier manufacturers show the signal-to-noise ratio in their amp spec sheets. Simply put, the larger the signal-to-noise ratio, the smaller the amount of noise the amplifier produces. One of the reasons why amps generate noise is the fact that they utilize components such as transistors as well as resistors which by nature generate noise. The overall noise depends on how much noise every component creates. However, the location of these elements is also vital. Elements which are part of the amplifier input stage are going to in general contribute most of the noise.
Most of latest power amplifiers are digital amps, also called "class-d amplifiers". Class-D amplifiers use a switching stage which oscillates at a frequency in the range of 300 kHz to 1 MHz. This switching frequency is also noise which is part of the amplified signal. On the other hand, today's amplifier specs normally only consider the hiss between 20 Hz and 20 kHz.
The signal-to-noise ratio is measured by feeding a 1 kHz test tone 60 dB underneath the full scale and measuring the noise floor of the amp. The volume of the amp is set such that the full output wattage of the amplifier can be realized. After that, only the noise in the range of 20 Hz and 20 kHz is considered. The noise at different frequencies is eliminated through a filter. Subsequently the amount of the noise energy in relation to the full-scale output power is calculated and shown in db.
Frequently the signal-to-noise ratio is shown in a more subjective manner as "dbA" or "A weighted". This method tries to evaluate in how far the amplifier noise is perceived by human hearing which is most perceptive to signals at frequencies at 1 kHz. As a result an A-weighting filter will amplify the noise floor for frequencies which are easily perceived and suppress the noise floor at frequencies which are barely noticed. A lot of amps will have a higher A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio than the un-weighted ratio.
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