Jumat, 28 Februari 2014

Uncovering The Truth About Today's Music Amplifiers

By Marta McBrian


When purchasing a brand new amplifier, you probably will take a look at the technical features. One often found specification is the frequency response. This parameter while important does not tell the full story pertaining to how good the amplifier will sound. I am going to describe the meaning of this term and also give some suggestions on how to interpret it when searching for an amp. An amplifier is built to enlarge an audio signal enough to drive some loudspeakers to moderate or higher volume. Manufacturers typically publish the frequency range over which the amplifier functions. This range is specified by listing two frequencies: a lower and also upper frequency. As an example, the lower frequency could be 20 Hz and the higher frequency 20 kHz. From this specification it appears the amp could operate as a HIFI amplifier. Then again, there is certainly far more to comprehending the amplifier's overall performance than just reviewing these figures.

An amp is able to only work inside of a particular frequency range. Any signals just outside of this range will be eliminated. As such the frequency response provides an important clue concerning if a specific amp might be appropriate for a specific use. Commonly a lower and upper frequency are provided, for instance 20 Hz - 20 kHz. This particular specification indicates that the amplifier has the ability to amplify audio inside that frequency range. However, there is much more to understanding the amplifier's functionality than just reviewing these figures. It seems there are various methods which manufacturers use whilst specifying the frequency response. The most frequently used method is to describe the frequency response as the frequency range within which the amp has rather constant amplification having a greatest drop of 3 decibel (dB). Normally the drop in gain is highest at the upper and lower frequency.

Then again, the frequency response quite often is utilized to deceive customers by means of stretching the frequency range a great deal beyond the range where the amp still works effectively and in addition conceals the reality that the amp might not be linear. Thus it is ideal to have a full frequency response document. This kind of graph is going to reveal if there are any sort of considerable peaks and valleys inside the operating frequency range. Peaks along with valleys might result in colorization of the audio. Preferably the gain of the amp ought to be linear throughout the entire operating range. You also want to look at the conditions under which the frequency response was calculated. You normally will not find any information about the measurement conditions, however, in the manufacturer's data sheet. One condition that may impact the frequency response is the impedance of the loudspeaker connected to the amp. Normal loudspeaker impedances vary from 2 to 16 Ohms. The lower the speaker impedance the greater the load for the amplifier.

To better understand the frequency response behavior of a specific model, you should try to find out under which circumstances the response was calculated. You might find this information in the data sheet of the amp. However, the majority of manufacturers won't publish those in which case you ought to get in touch with the producer directly. The fact is that lots of amplifiers will function in a different way with different speaker loads. This is because of the fact that various loudspeaker loads will result in changes to the behavior of the output power stage of the amp. This change is most obvious with a lot of digital amps, otherwise known as Class-D amplifiers. Class-D amplifiers use a lowpass filter in their output to be able to suppress the switching components that are generated through the internal power FETs. A varying speaker load will affect the filter response to a point. Generally the lower the loudspeaker impedance the lower the maximum frequency of the amplifier. In addition, the linearity of the amplifier gain will be determined by the load.

This change is most obvious with a lot of digital amps, otherwise known as Class-D amps. Class-D amplifiers use a lowpass filter inside their output to be able to reduce the switching components which are produced through the internal power FETs. A changing speaker load is going to affect the filter response to a point. Generally the lower the loudspeaker impedance the lower the highest frequency of the amp. Furthermore, the linearity of the amplifier gain is going to be determined by the load. A few of the newest digital amps feed back the audio signal following the lowpass filter so as to compensate for this tradeoff and to make the frequency response of the amp independent of the attached load. Then again, if the amp is not designed well, this type of feedback could potentially cause instability and also cause loud noise being generated by the amp if particular speakers are connected. Different amps utilize transformers and offer outputs for several loudspeaker loads. Apart from improving the frequency response of the amp, this method typically furthermore enhances the amplifier efficiency.




About the Author:



Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar