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Information For Buying The Right Audio Amplifier

I will look at various audio amplifiers and describe some essential expressions to help you choose the ideal amp for your speakers

Audio amps are available in all different shapes and sizes. They utilize different technologies and have numerous technical specs. Still, you don't have to be an expert to choose the right model. By following some key rules you won't regret your buying decision.

The most apparent criterion is the size of the amplifier. There are types that are as big as half your living room while some of the latest mini amplifier types are as small as a bar of soap. A big number of amplifiers are the size of a typical rack. This allows your amplifier to be stacked on top of your other audio devices.

The majority of today's audio amplifiers are based on solid-state technology whilst a small part is based on tube technology which has been popular over a decade ago. Tube amplifiers, though, have a fairly large amount of harmonic distortion. Harmonic distortion describes how much the audio signal is degraded while being amplified. This expression is often used while comparing the audio quality of amps.

An audio distortion of up to 10% is usual for tube amplifiers while solid-state amps have less audio distortion depending on the particular technology. The most conventional amps utilize a "Class-A" and "Class-AB" technology. These amps are also known as "analog amplifiers". Audio amplifiers which are based on these technologies generally have low harmonic distortion. In addition, this technology is fairly inexpensive. On the other hand, the disadvantage is that the power efficiency is merely in the order of 20% to 30%. Power efficiency refers to how much of the electrical power is in fact utilized to amplify the signal. The left over portion is wasted as heat. An amplifier with low power efficiency will radiate the majority of its power as heat.

"Class-D" amplifiers, however, which are also referred to as "digital amplifiers" have a power efficiency of no less than 80% and are smaller and have a smaller power supply than similar analog amplifiers. The downside is that digital amplifiers frequently have higher audio distortion than analog amplifiers. This is mostly a consequence of the switching distortion of the output power stage. Most recent digital audio amplifiers, on the other hand, employ a feedback mechanism and can minimize the audio distortion to below 0.05%.

When picking an amplifier, ensure that the output power is adequate to drive your loudspeakers. The required power will be determined by how much power your speakers can handle as well as the size of your space where you will be listening. There are two values for speaker power handling: peak and average power handling. The peak value shows how much power the loudspeaker can handle for small periods of time. The average value on the other hand describes how much power the speaker can tolerate constantly without damage.

In a small listening environment, you may not require to drive your speakers to their rated value. 20 to 40 Watts of power would almost certainly be plenty. Low-impedance loudspeakers typically offer high sensitivity and are simpler to drive to high volume than high-impedance speakers. Not all amps can drive every speaker impedance. Find out the impedance of your speaker which is given in Ohms. Then take a look at your amplifier manual to ensure that your amp can drive this impedance.

Two additional important parameters to look at when choosing an amp are signal-to-noise ratio and frequency response. Signal-to-noise ratio describes how much noise the amp will generate and should be at least 100 dB for a high-quality amplifier. The frequency response reveals which audio frequency range the amp covers and should be at least 20 Hz to 20 kHz.

Author Resource:- You can find further details about audio amplifier technologies and mini amplifier products at Amphony's website.
Submitted 2010-07-12 14:17:57
By: Gunter Fellbaum 29 or more times read
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