Ways To Stay Away From Mistakes When Investing In Audio Amps

By Mike Heller


I will take a look at various audio amplifiers and describe some important language to assist you choose the perfect amp for your loudspeakers It is tricky to select the right audio amp as a result of the large amount of models. All of these models have different specs. They are based on different technologies and are available in all kinds of shapes and sizes. By following some easy rules, you will be able to choose the model that best meets your application and budget.

Audio amps appear in all different shapes and sizes. They employ different technologies and have numerous technical specs. This makes it tricky to make a decision which model to pick. You don't have to be a specialist. Just follow some easy rules and you ought to be pleased with your amplifier.

There are various core amplifier technologies available. One technology is called "solid-state". Solid-state amplifiers now account for the majority of audio amplifiers. In the past, tube amplifiers have been popular. Even today tube amplifiers are still available. Regrettably, tube amps have relatively high audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amplifier.

Harmonic distortion of tube amps is frequently as large as 10%. Solid-state amplifiers will have lower audio distortion. On the other hand, distortion will depend on the particular audio amplifier technology. In the past, for the most part "Class-A" and "Class-AB" amplifiers were available which are also referred to as "analog amplifiers". This technology offers fairly low audio distortion. On the other hand, the power efficiency is only 10 to 30%. This means that most of the electrical power provided to the amp is wasted as heat whereas a small fraction is used to amplify the audio signal.

Harmonic distortion of tube amps is frequently as high as 10%. Solid-state amps will have less audio distortion. On the other hand, distortion will depend on the particular audio amplifier technology. The most conventional amps employ a "Class-A" and "Class-AB" technology. These amplifiers are also called "analog amplifiers". This technology offers relatively small audio distortion. Though, the power efficiency is merely 10 to 30%. This means that the majority of the electrical power provided to the amplifier is wasted as heat whereas a small fraction is used to amplify the audio signal.

When selecting an amplifier, make certain that the output power is sufficient to drive your loudspeakers. The needed power will be determined by how much power your loudspeakers can handle as well as the size of your space where you will be listening. Speaker power handling ability is given as peak power and average power. The peak power value refers to how much power the speaker can handle for a short period of time while the average power handling value describes how much power you can drive the speaker at continuously without damage.

If your listening environment is relatively small then you might not require to drive your loudspeaker to its rated power handling value. You would most likely be ok having an amp that can offer 20 to 50 Watts although your speakers may be capable to tolerate 100 Watts of power. Low-impedance speakers typically offer high sensitivity and are easier to drive to high volume than high-impedance speakers. Not all amplifiers can drive any speaker impedance. Find out the impedance of your speaker which is given in Ohms. Then take a look at your amplifier manual to guarantee that your amplifier can drive this impedance.

Two additional significant parameters to look at when picking an amp are signal-to-noise ratio and frequency response. Signal-to-noise ratio denotes how much noise the amplifier will generate and should be at least 100 dB for a high-quality amp. The frequency response indicates which audio frequency range the amplifier covers and should be no less than 20 Hz to 20 kHz.




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