Looking at a number of the technical specs of recent power amplifiers, one cannot help but be at a loss in attempting to evaluate different models as well as terms, e.g. "t-amp", "THD" etc. I am going to clarify the term "amplifier wattage" a bit more in this article. "Wattage" is one of the most elementary terms describing amplifier performance. Nevertheless, it is frequently misunderstood. Several producers also in the past have used this term in a confusing method in order to hide the true performance. Amplifier specs are at times awkward to decipher as they are not completely standardized. As such it can be hard to determine the actual functioning of the amplifier simply by investigating the specifications. A decent approach however is to do a listening trial prior to buying your power amplifier. Throughout this test you ideally wish to set up the amp in a similar setting as your application. Let me now proceed and explain the power specification of stereo amps.
If you are exploring to buy an audio amplifier in order to set up your home loudspeakers, you will often be faced with a number of strange terms describing its performance. However how do these numbers relate to how the amp sounds and how are these to be interpreted? Next I am going to explain the "wattage" specification of audio amplifiers. This specification is one of the most fundamental and maybe vital specifications to be aware of.
"Power" describes how loud your amp can drive your speakers. If you have a small room then you don't need much more than a couple of watts. If you want to install speakers outdoors or in a live concert then you will require several hundred watts of power. Most amplifiers will show growing audio distortion as output power increases. Consequently, you wish to pick an amplifier which offers more output power than you will in fact require. This is going to guarantee that you will never drive the amp into regions of big distortion.
These days most amplifiers are going to denote rms power that gives a better indication of the amplifier's real performance. On the other hand, please ensure that your amplifier offers sufficient headroom to keep away from clipping of the audio. The most important reason is that audio signals will have short peaks of high power which the amp has to deal with. Rms power is measured with a uniform sine wave which hardly compares with a music signal by way of the power envelope.
Please notice that frequently the peak power of the amp will depend on the impedance of your loudspeakers which is normally between 4 and 8 Ohms. Amps have a limited output voltage swing as a result of the fixed internal supply voltage. Hence the largest output power will vary depending on the loudspeaker impedance. The lower the speaker impedance the bigger the maximum power the amp may deliver. Typically highest power is specified for a 4-Ohm speaker impedance. However, ideally the producer will tell which loudspeaker impedance the output power spec is being referenced to. Please note that some amps are not able to drive speakers with extremely low loudspeaker impedance.
If you are exploring to buy an audio amplifier in order to set up your home loudspeakers, you will often be faced with a number of strange terms describing its performance. However how do these numbers relate to how the amp sounds and how are these to be interpreted? Next I am going to explain the "wattage" specification of audio amplifiers. This specification is one of the most fundamental and maybe vital specifications to be aware of.
"Power" describes how loud your amp can drive your speakers. If you have a small room then you don't need much more than a couple of watts. If you want to install speakers outdoors or in a live concert then you will require several hundred watts of power. Most amplifiers will show growing audio distortion as output power increases. Consequently, you wish to pick an amplifier which offers more output power than you will in fact require. This is going to guarantee that you will never drive the amp into regions of big distortion.
These days most amplifiers are going to denote rms power that gives a better indication of the amplifier's real performance. On the other hand, please ensure that your amplifier offers sufficient headroom to keep away from clipping of the audio. The most important reason is that audio signals will have short peaks of high power which the amp has to deal with. Rms power is measured with a uniform sine wave which hardly compares with a music signal by way of the power envelope.
Please notice that frequently the peak power of the amp will depend on the impedance of your loudspeakers which is normally between 4 and 8 Ohms. Amps have a limited output voltage swing as a result of the fixed internal supply voltage. Hence the largest output power will vary depending on the loudspeaker impedance. The lower the speaker impedance the bigger the maximum power the amp may deliver. Typically highest power is specified for a 4-Ohm speaker impedance. However, ideally the producer will tell which loudspeaker impedance the output power spec is being referenced to. Please note that some amps are not able to drive speakers with extremely low loudspeaker impedance.
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