If you have spent a good deal of cash on a pair of good-quality speakers, you want to be sure that you get an amplifier which will offer outstanding sound quality while meeting your budget. I will offer a few pointers on the subject of audio amplifier technologies to aid you make the perfect buying decision.
The most evident parameter is the size of the amp. There are types that are as big as half your living room whilst some of the most recent mini amplifier types are as tiny as a bar of soap. Numerous units will be the size of a ordinary audio rack so that you can simply stack it on top of your audio equipment.
The majority of today's audio amps are based on solid-state technology whereas a small portion is based on tube technology which has been popular over a decade ago. Unfortunately, tube amps have fairly large audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amplifier.
An audio distortion of up to 10% is typical for tube amplifiers while solid-state amps have less audio distortion depending on the particular technology. In the past, for the most part "Class-A" and "Class-AB" amps were obtainable which are also called "analog amplifiers". While amplifiers utilizing these technologies normally have low audio distortion, power efficiency is only 10% to 30%. Power efficiency describes how much of the electrical power is used to amplify the audio versus being wasted as heat. Amplifiers with low power efficiency will require fairly large heat sinks since most of the power is radiated.
Harmonic distortion of tube amplifiers is frequently as large as 10%. Solid-state amps will have less audio distortion. On the other hand, distortion will depend on the specific audio amplifier technology. The most conventional amplifiers utilize a "Class-A" and "Class-AB" technology. These amps are also known as "analog amplifiers". This technology offers fairly small audio distortion. However, the power efficiency is only 10 to 30%. This means that the majority of the electrical power provided to the amp is wasted as heat while a small fraction is used to amplify the audio signal.
"Class-D" amplifiers, however, which are also referred to as "digital amplifiers" have a power efficiency of at least 80% and are smaller and have a smaller power supply than comparable analog amplifiers. The disadvantage is that many digital amps have larger audio distortion than analog amplifiers though a few of the latest models make use of a feedback mechanism to reduce distortion to levels of 0.05% and below. When selecting an amp, make certain that the output power is adequate to drive your loudspeakers. The needed power will be determined by how much power your loudspeakers can tolerate as well as the size of your room where you will be listening. Speaker power handling is given as peak power which denotes the maximum amount of power during short bursts whereas average power refers to how much power the speakers can handle continuously.
If your listening environment is rather small then you might not require to drive your speaker to its rated power handling value. You would probably be good getting an amp that can offer 20 to 50 Watts even though your loudspeakers might be able to tolerate 100 Watts of power. Low-impedance loudspeakers typically offer high sensitivity and are easier to drive to high volume than high-impedance loudspeakers. Check your amplifier manual to make sure that your amp can drive your loudspeaker impedance.
Lastly, ensure that your amp introduces little noise and has a broad enough frequency response. High-quality amps will have a signal-to-noise ratio of at the very least 100 dB and a frequency response of at least 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
The most evident parameter is the size of the amp. There are types that are as big as half your living room whilst some of the most recent mini amplifier types are as tiny as a bar of soap. Numerous units will be the size of a ordinary audio rack so that you can simply stack it on top of your audio equipment.
The majority of today's audio amps are based on solid-state technology whereas a small portion is based on tube technology which has been popular over a decade ago. Unfortunately, tube amps have fairly large audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amplifier.
An audio distortion of up to 10% is typical for tube amplifiers while solid-state amps have less audio distortion depending on the particular technology. In the past, for the most part "Class-A" and "Class-AB" amps were obtainable which are also called "analog amplifiers". While amplifiers utilizing these technologies normally have low audio distortion, power efficiency is only 10% to 30%. Power efficiency describes how much of the electrical power is used to amplify the audio versus being wasted as heat. Amplifiers with low power efficiency will require fairly large heat sinks since most of the power is radiated.
Harmonic distortion of tube amplifiers is frequently as large as 10%. Solid-state amps will have less audio distortion. On the other hand, distortion will depend on the specific audio amplifier technology. The most conventional amplifiers utilize a "Class-A" and "Class-AB" technology. These amps are also known as "analog amplifiers". This technology offers fairly small audio distortion. However, the power efficiency is only 10 to 30%. This means that the majority of the electrical power provided to the amp is wasted as heat while a small fraction is used to amplify the audio signal.
"Class-D" amplifiers, however, which are also referred to as "digital amplifiers" have a power efficiency of at least 80% and are smaller and have a smaller power supply than comparable analog amplifiers. The disadvantage is that many digital amps have larger audio distortion than analog amplifiers though a few of the latest models make use of a feedback mechanism to reduce distortion to levels of 0.05% and below. When selecting an amp, make certain that the output power is adequate to drive your loudspeakers. The needed power will be determined by how much power your loudspeakers can tolerate as well as the size of your room where you will be listening. Speaker power handling is given as peak power which denotes the maximum amount of power during short bursts whereas average power refers to how much power the speakers can handle continuously.
If your listening environment is rather small then you might not require to drive your speaker to its rated power handling value. You would probably be good getting an amp that can offer 20 to 50 Watts even though your loudspeakers might be able to tolerate 100 Watts of power. Low-impedance loudspeakers typically offer high sensitivity and are easier to drive to high volume than high-impedance loudspeakers. Check your amplifier manual to make sure that your amp can drive your loudspeaker impedance.
Lastly, ensure that your amp introduces little noise and has a broad enough frequency response. High-quality amps will have a signal-to-noise ratio of at the very least 100 dB and a frequency response of at least 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
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