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I will have a look at various audio amplifiers as well as mini amplifier models and explain some vital vocabulary to aid you select the perfect amp for your loudspeakers

It is tricky to pick the right audio amplifier as a consequence of the large number of models. All of these models have different specs. They are built on different technologies and are available in all kinds of shapes and sizes. By following some plain guidelines, you will be able to pick the model that best meets your application and budget.

The most evident parameter is the size of the amplifier. There are models that are as big as half your living room whilst a number of of the newest mini amplifier models are as tiny as a bar of soap. Various amplifiers are rack sized. This allows them to be stacked on top of your other audio equipment.

The majority of recent audio amplifiers are based on solid-state technology whilst a tiny portion is based on tube technology which has been popular over a decade ago. Unfortunately, tube amplifiers have fairly high audio distortion which describes how much the audio signal is degraded by the amp.

Harmonic distortion of tube amplifiers is frequently as large as 10%. Solid-state amplifiers will have lower audio distortion. However, distortion will depend on the particular audio amplifier technology. 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 audio. Amplifiers based on any of these technologies are also named “analog amplifiers”. This technology offers relatively low audio distortion. However, the power efficiency is merely 10 to 30%. Power efficiency describes how much of the electrical power is utilized to amplify the audio versus being wasted as heat. Amplifiers with low power efficiency will need rather big heat sinks since the majority of the power is radiated.

Another technology is called “Class-D”. This technology provides far higher power efficiency than analog amplifiers, normally around 80 to 90%. “Class-D” amps are also named “digital amplifiers”. The tradeoff is that digital amps frequently have larger audio distortion than analog amplifiers. This is mostly a consequence of the switching distortion of the output power stage. Newest digital audio amplifiers, however, utilize a feedback mechanism and can minimize the audio distortion to below 0.05%.

The amplifier should be capable to provide adequate output power to sufficiently drive your speakers which will depend not only on how much power your loudspeakers can tolerate but also on the size of your listening environment. Speaker power handling capability is specified 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 whereas the average power handling value describes how much power you can drive the loudspeaker at continuously without damage.

In a small listening setting, you may not require to drive your speakers to their rated value. 20 to 40 Watts of power will almost certainly be sufficient. Note though that loudspeakers vary in their sensitivity. Generally a low-impedance loudspeaker will be easier to drive to high volume than a high-impedance loudspeaker. Be certain that your amplifier can drive your speaker impedance. You can without problems find the rated speaker impedance range in your amplifier’s user manual.

Two additional significant parameters to look at when picking an amp are signal-to-noise ratio and frequency response. Signal-to-noise ratio denotes how much noise the amplifier will generate and should be no less than 100 dB for a high-quality amp. The frequency response indicates which audio frequency range the amplifier covers and should be no less than 20 Hz to 20 kHz.

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