Selecting a decent amplifier for your loudspeakers is not a trivial chore. You wish to make certain that your amplifier matches your speakers. I will clarify some important amplifier terms and give some recommendations to help you select the perfect amplifier.
Audio amplifiers appear in all different shapes and sizes. They use different technologies and have many technical specs. By following some simple rules, you will be able to pick the type that best fits your application and budget.
Amplifiers vary in their size and range from types that will take up a good part of your living room whilst some of the latest mini amplifier types are as small as a deck of cards. A large number of amps are the size of a typical rack. This enables your amp to be stacked on top of your other audio equipment. The huge majority of recent audio amplifiers are solid state amplifiers versus more conventional tube amplifiers. Tube amplifiers have been dominant a decade or so ago. Regrettably, tube amps have relatively large audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amplifier.
Tube amps will have audio distortion of up to 10%. Solid state amplifiers will have less audio distortion depending on the amplifier technology that is utilized. Several of the most accepted technologies in the past have been "Class-A" and "Class-AB" technologies. These technologies use different arrangements to amplify the sound. Amps based on any of these technologies are also named "analog amplifiers". While amplifiers employing these technologies normally have low audio distortion, 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 tiny fraction is used to amplify the audio signal.
In comparison, "Class-D" amps which are also known as "digital amplifiers" have a power efficiency of usually 80 to 90%. This allows the amp and power supply to be made a great deal smaller than analog amplifiers. The downside is that many digital amplifiers have larger audio distortion than analog amplifiers though several of the latest types make use of a feedback mechanism to minimize distortion to levels of 0.05% and less.
"Class-D" amplifiers, on the other hand, which are also named "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 disadvantage is that many digital amps have larger audio distortion than analog amplifiers although some of the latest types employ a feedback mechanism to reduce distortion to levels of 0.05% and less. The amp should be able to deliver adequate output power to sufficiently drive your speakers which will depend not only on how much power your loudspeakers can handle but also on the size of your listening environment. Speaker power handling is given as peak power which describes the maximum amount of power during short bursts while average power refers to how much power the loudspeakers can handle constantly.
If you have a fairly small listening area then 20 to 50 Watts of power should be sufficient despite the fact that your loudspeaker might be rated for 100 Watts or more. Low-impedance speakers generally offer high sensitivity and are easier to drive to high volume than high-impedance loudspeakers. Be sure that your amplifier can drive your speaker impedance. You can without problems find the rated speaker impedance range in your amplifier's user manual.
Last but not least, be certain that your amplifier introduces little noise and has a broad enough frequency response. High-quality amps will have a signal-to-noise ratio of no less than 100 dB and a frequency response of a minimum of 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
Audio amplifiers appear in all different shapes and sizes. They use different technologies and have many technical specs. By following some simple rules, you will be able to pick the type that best fits your application and budget.
Amplifiers vary in their size and range from types that will take up a good part of your living room whilst some of the latest mini amplifier types are as small as a deck of cards. A large number of amps are the size of a typical rack. This enables your amp to be stacked on top of your other audio equipment. The huge majority of recent audio amplifiers are solid state amplifiers versus more conventional tube amplifiers. Tube amplifiers have been dominant a decade or so ago. Regrettably, tube amps have relatively large audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amplifier.
Tube amps will have audio distortion of up to 10%. Solid state amplifiers will have less audio distortion depending on the amplifier technology that is utilized. Several of the most accepted technologies in the past have been "Class-A" and "Class-AB" technologies. These technologies use different arrangements to amplify the sound. Amps based on any of these technologies are also named "analog amplifiers". While amplifiers employing these technologies normally have low audio distortion, 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 tiny fraction is used to amplify the audio signal.
In comparison, "Class-D" amps which are also known as "digital amplifiers" have a power efficiency of usually 80 to 90%. This allows the amp and power supply to be made a great deal smaller than analog amplifiers. The downside is that many digital amplifiers have larger audio distortion than analog amplifiers though several of the latest types make use of a feedback mechanism to minimize distortion to levels of 0.05% and less.
"Class-D" amplifiers, on the other hand, which are also named "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 disadvantage is that many digital amps have larger audio distortion than analog amplifiers although some of the latest types employ a feedback mechanism to reduce distortion to levels of 0.05% and less. The amp should be able to deliver adequate output power to sufficiently drive your speakers which will depend not only on how much power your loudspeakers can handle but also on the size of your listening environment. Speaker power handling is given as peak power which describes the maximum amount of power during short bursts while average power refers to how much power the loudspeakers can handle constantly.
If you have a fairly small listening area then 20 to 50 Watts of power should be sufficient despite the fact that your loudspeaker might be rated for 100 Watts or more. Low-impedance speakers generally offer high sensitivity and are easier to drive to high volume than high-impedance loudspeakers. Be sure that your amplifier can drive your speaker impedance. You can without problems find the rated speaker impedance range in your amplifier's user manual.
Last but not least, be certain that your amplifier introduces little noise and has a broad enough frequency response. High-quality amps will have a signal-to-noise ratio of no less than 100 dB and a frequency response of a minimum of 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
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