vendredi 6 décembre 2013

The Way To Shop For Hifi Amplifiers

By Sherry Lambert


Investigating a number of the technical specifications of today's audio amplifiers, one cannot help but be at a loss in attempting to compare different models as well as terms, for example "t-amp", "THD" et cetera. I am going to give a brief overview of the output wattage specification so as to help you better comprehend the significance of this term and how it relates to the performance of an amp.

The output power of the amps is shown as "wattage". This shows how loud your amp can drive your speakers. If you own a small space then you don't require much more than a couple of watts. If you want to install loudspeakers outside or in a live show then you will require several hundred watts of power. Many amplifiers will have increasing music distortion as output power increases. Therefore, you wish to go with an amplifier which offers bigger output power than you will actually require. This is going to guarantee that you will never drive the amp into regions of high distortion.

There are 2 common ways to show amplifier wattage. These are "peak power" and "rms power". "Peak power" shows how much power the amplifier may deliver to your loudspeakers for a quick burst. On the other hand, "rms power" shows how much power the amp can deliver for a prolonged amount of time without being damaged. The peak output power rating in the past frequently led to manufacturers stating huge wattage ratings for small amps. On the other hand, in practice these amps would not be able to maintain larger levels of output power for larger amounts of time.

Today most amplifiers will state rms power which gives a better indication of the amp's actual performance. However, please ensure that your amp offers enough headroom to stay away from clipping of the audio. Having enough headroom is essential given that audio signals differ a great deal from sine wave signals which are used to quantify rms power. Short peaks of high power are often found in audio signals. These bursts will drive the amplifier into high distortion unless the peak power is big enough.

However, be conscious of the fact that the greatest output power also will depend on what kind of speakers you are utilizing, specifically the impedance of the speakers. Speakers typically have impedances between 4 and 8 Ohms. An audio amplifier that has a set internal supply voltage will have a maximum output signal swing that is limited by that supply voltage. If you are driving an 8-Ohm speaker then the amp has to provide two times the output voltage than whilst driving a 4-Ohm speaker to be able to deliver the same amount of output power. Thus frequently largest output power is shown for a certain loudspeaker impedance.




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