Looking at a number of the technical specs of today's power amps, one cannot help but be at a loss in trying to evaluate different models as well as terms, such as "t-amp", "THD" and so forth. In this editorial, I am going to have a glimpse at one of the most elementary of these terms: "amplifier output power". This term is also known as "wattage". If you are exploring to acquire an audio amplifier in order to set up your home loudspeakers, you will time and again be confronted with a number of weird technical jargon 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 present various fine points in relation to "amplifier output power". This specification is frequently misunderstood. It is significant to look quite closely at how the producer shows this rating.
A quantity of of the technical jargon which amplifier suppliers publish regularly are deceptive and do not necessarily provide a decent indication of the real performance of the amplifier. Now I am going to clarify the "output power" specification of audio amps. This spec is one of the most essential and perhaps important specs to understand. "Wattage" is every now and then also known as "Power" or "amplifier output power". To put it in a nutshell, "wattage" relates to how high the amp can drive your speakers. The higher this figure the louder your loudspeakers. Depending on your application, you can go with a little amplifier offering merely a few watts or a larger one delivering several hundred watts. Most home radios only come with amps which have several watts output power which regularly is adequate for a small space. If you intend to shake your walls then you obviously want to choose an amp that offers up to a few hundred watts. For best music quality, you may want to pick an amp that has higher power than you need because many amps are going to exhibit increasing distortion once the music power increases.
There are two common ways to display amplifier power. These are "peak power" and "rms power". "Peak power" describes how much power the amp can provide to your loudspeakers for a quick burst. Alternatively, "rms power" shows how much power the amplifier can deliver for a prolonged amount of time without being damaged. The peak output power spec in the past often led to vendors showing large wattage specs for small amps. On the other hand, in reality those amplifiers would not be able to sustain bigger amounts of output power for larger periods of time.
Music and voice is not constant regarding loudness. Thus the peak power rating is still essential, though not as important as the rms power spec. Ideally the amp is going to publish both the rms and peak power spec. Having a large peak power rating is going to make sure enough headroom for power peaks which are widespread in music signals. Having sufficient headroom is essential since music signals differ a lot from sine wave signals which are used to quantify rms output power. Brief bursts of high power are often found in music signals. These bursts are going to drive the amplifier into high distortion unless the peak power is large enough.
Please note that often the peak power of the amplifier will depend upon the impedance of your speakers which is commonly between 4 and 8 Ohms. An audio amplifier which has a fixed internal supply voltage is going to have a maximum output signal swing that is restricted by that supply voltage. If you are driving an 8-Ohm speaker then the amplifier must deliver twice the output voltage than while driving a 4-Ohm speaker to be able to deliver the same level of output power. Usually maximum output power is specified for a 4-Ohm speaker impedance. On the other hand, ideally the producer is going to show which loudspeaker impedance the output power spec is being referenced to. Please note that a number of amplifiers are not able to drive speakers with extremely low loudspeaker impedance.
A quantity of of the technical jargon which amplifier suppliers publish regularly are deceptive and do not necessarily provide a decent indication of the real performance of the amplifier. Now I am going to clarify the "output power" specification of audio amps. This spec is one of the most essential and perhaps important specs to understand. "Wattage" is every now and then also known as "Power" or "amplifier output power". To put it in a nutshell, "wattage" relates to how high the amp can drive your speakers. The higher this figure the louder your loudspeakers. Depending on your application, you can go with a little amplifier offering merely a few watts or a larger one delivering several hundred watts. Most home radios only come with amps which have several watts output power which regularly is adequate for a small space. If you intend to shake your walls then you obviously want to choose an amp that offers up to a few hundred watts. For best music quality, you may want to pick an amp that has higher power than you need because many amps are going to exhibit increasing distortion once the music power increases.
There are two common ways to display amplifier power. These are "peak power" and "rms power". "Peak power" describes how much power the amp can provide to your loudspeakers for a quick burst. Alternatively, "rms power" shows how much power the amplifier can deliver for a prolonged amount of time without being damaged. The peak output power spec in the past often led to vendors showing large wattage specs for small amps. On the other hand, in reality those amplifiers would not be able to sustain bigger amounts of output power for larger periods of time.
Music and voice is not constant regarding loudness. Thus the peak power rating is still essential, though not as important as the rms power spec. Ideally the amp is going to publish both the rms and peak power spec. Having a large peak power rating is going to make sure enough headroom for power peaks which are widespread in music signals. Having sufficient headroom is essential since music signals differ a lot from sine wave signals which are used to quantify rms output power. Brief bursts of high power are often found in music signals. These bursts are going to drive the amplifier into high distortion unless the peak power is large enough.
Please note that often the peak power of the amplifier will depend upon the impedance of your speakers which is commonly between 4 and 8 Ohms. An audio amplifier which has a fixed internal supply voltage is going to have a maximum output signal swing that is restricted by that supply voltage. If you are driving an 8-Ohm speaker then the amplifier must deliver twice the output voltage than while driving a 4-Ohm speaker to be able to deliver the same level of output power. Usually maximum output power is specified for a 4-Ohm speaker impedance. On the other hand, ideally the producer is going to show which loudspeaker impedance the output power spec is being referenced to. Please note that a number of amplifiers are not able to drive speakers with extremely low loudspeaker impedance.
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