I will have a look at a number of audio amplifiers as well as mini amplifier models and clarify some important terminology to help you pick the perfect amplifier for your speakers
Audio amplifiers appear in all different shapes and sizes. They utilize different technologies and have a lot of technical specs. On the other hand, you don’t have to be a specialist to select the best model. By following some basic rules you won’t regret your buying decision.
One important criterion is the size of the amplifier. You can buy models which can fill half a room. In contrast, a number of of the most recent miniature amp types are no larger than a deck of cards. A big number of amplifiers are the size of a regular rack. This permits your amp to be stacked on top of your other audio devices.
Most of modern audio amps are based on solid-state technology whilst a tiny portion is based on tube technology which has been popular over a decade ago. Regrettably, tube amps have relatively large audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amp.
Tube amplifiers will have audio distortion of up to 10%. Solid state amplifiers will have less audio distortion depending on the amplifier technology that is utilized. In the past, typically “Class-A” and “Class-AB” amps were available which are also called “analog amplifiers”. This technology offers fairly small audio distortion. Though, the 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 relatively large heat sinks because most of the power is radiated.
“Class-D” amplifiers, though, which are also known as “digital amplifiers” have a power efficiency of at the least 80% and are smaller and have a smaller power supply than similar analog amplifiers. The downside is that digital amps regularly have larger audio distortion than analog amps. This is for the most part a result 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 amp, ensure that the output power is adequate to drive your loudspeakers. The needed 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. Speaker power handling capability is given as peak power and average power. The peak power value refers to how much power the speaker can handle for a short period of time while the average power handling value denotes how much power you can drive the speaker at continuously without harm.
If you have a fairly small listening environment then 20 to 50 Watts of power should be plenty although your speaker may be rated for 100 Watts or higher. Note though that speakers vary in their sensitivity. Usually a low-impedance speaker will be simpler to drive to high volume than a high-impedance speaker. 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.
Additional key parameters are the signal-to-noise ratio and frequency response which should be in the order of no less than 100 dB signal-to-noise ratio and 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response for high-quality amplifiers.
Tags: audio amplifier, hifi amplifier, power amplifier, stereo amplifier
