I will take a look at some audio amplifiers and explain some essential vocabulary to help you select the ideal amp for your speakers
There is a variety of different audio amps available which all differ in their specifications, shape and size. Still, you don't need to be a guru to choose the perfect type. By following some essential rules you won't regret your buying decision.
The most obvious criterion is the size of the amplifier. There are types that are as big as half your living room while some of the newest mini amplifier models are as tiny as a bar of soap. A large number of amplifiers are the size of a typical rack. This enables your amplifier to be stacked on top of your other audio equipment. The huge majority of modern audio amps are solid state amplifiers versus more conventional tube amps. Tube amps have been prevalent a decade or so ago. Unfortunately, tube amps have quite high audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amp.
The largest part of recent audio amplifiers are based on solid-state technology whereas a tiny part is based on tube technology which has been popular over a decade ago. Regrettably, tube amps have relatively large audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amp.
Another technology is known as "Class-D". This technology offers much greater power efficiency than analog amplifiers, normally around 80 to 90%. "Class-D" amps are also called "digital amplifiers". The tradeoff is that digital amps often have higher audio distortion than analog amps. This is mostly a result of the switching distortion of the output power stage. Latest digital audio amplifiers, though, employ a feedback mechanism and can reduce the audio distortion to below 0.05%.
"Class-D" amplifiers, on the other hand, which are also known as "digital amplifiers" have a power efficiency of at least 80% and are smaller and have a smaller power supply than similar analog amplifiers. The downside is that digital amps regularly have larger audio distortion than analog amplifiers. This is for the most part a result of the switching distortion of the output power stage. Most recent digital audio amplifiers, on the other hand, make use of a feedback mechanism and can minimize the audio distortion to below 0.05%. The amp should be able to provide adequate output power to sufficiently drive your speakers which will depend not only on how much power your speakers can tolerate but also on the size of your listening environment. There are two values for speaker power handling: peak and average power handling. The peak value indicates how much power the speaker can handle for short periods of time. The average value on the other hand denotes how much power the speaker can tolerate constantly without harm.
In a small listening environment, you may not need to drive your speakers to their rated value. 20 to 40 Watts of power would almost certainly be plenty. Speakers however differ in their impedance and sensitivity. As a rule of thumb speakers with low impedance offer higher sensitivity. High-sensitivity speakers are simpler to drive to high volume than low-sensitivity speakers. Check your amplifier manual to make sure that your amplifier can drive your loudspeaker impedance.
Additional significant parameters are the signal-to-noise ratio and frequency response which should be in the order of no less than 100 dB signal-to-noise ratio and 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response for high-quality amps.
There is a variety of different audio amps available which all differ in their specifications, shape and size. Still, you don't need to be a guru to choose the perfect type. By following some essential rules you won't regret your buying decision.
The most obvious criterion is the size of the amplifier. There are types that are as big as half your living room while some of the newest mini amplifier models are as tiny as a bar of soap. A large number of amplifiers are the size of a typical rack. This enables your amplifier to be stacked on top of your other audio equipment. The huge majority of modern audio amps are solid state amplifiers versus more conventional tube amps. Tube amps have been prevalent a decade or so ago. Unfortunately, tube amps have quite high audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amp.
The largest part of recent audio amplifiers are based on solid-state technology whereas a tiny part is based on tube technology which has been popular over a decade ago. Regrettably, tube amps have relatively large audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amp.
Another technology is known as "Class-D". This technology offers much greater power efficiency than analog amplifiers, normally around 80 to 90%. "Class-D" amps are also called "digital amplifiers". The tradeoff is that digital amps often have higher audio distortion than analog amps. This is mostly a result of the switching distortion of the output power stage. Latest digital audio amplifiers, though, employ a feedback mechanism and can reduce the audio distortion to below 0.05%.
"Class-D" amplifiers, on the other hand, which are also known as "digital amplifiers" have a power efficiency of at least 80% and are smaller and have a smaller power supply than similar analog amplifiers. The downside is that digital amps regularly have larger audio distortion than analog amplifiers. This is for the most part a result of the switching distortion of the output power stage. Most recent digital audio amplifiers, on the other hand, make use of a feedback mechanism and can minimize the audio distortion to below 0.05%. The amp should be able to provide adequate output power to sufficiently drive your speakers which will depend not only on how much power your speakers can tolerate but also on the size of your listening environment. There are two values for speaker power handling: peak and average power handling. The peak value indicates how much power the speaker can handle for short periods of time. The average value on the other hand denotes how much power the speaker can tolerate constantly without harm.
In a small listening environment, you may not need to drive your speakers to their rated value. 20 to 40 Watts of power would almost certainly be plenty. Speakers however differ in their impedance and sensitivity. As a rule of thumb speakers with low impedance offer higher sensitivity. High-sensitivity speakers are simpler to drive to high volume than low-sensitivity speakers. Check your amplifier manual to make sure that your amplifier can drive your loudspeaker impedance.
Additional significant parameters are the signal-to-noise ratio and frequency response which should be in the order of no less than 100 dB signal-to-noise ratio and 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response for high-quality amps.
No comments:
Post a Comment