Thursday 20 March 2014

A Look At The Frequency Response Spec Of Today's Audio Amps

By Marta McBrian


When buying a new amp, it is likely you will take a look at the technical specs. An often found parameter is the frequency response. This spec while vital isn't going to tell the entire story pertaining to how good the amplifier will sound. You possibly will not completely understand the way in which the frequency response is measured. I am going to clarify what specifically this particular expression means. Hopefully you'll be able to make a much more knowledgeable buying decision. An amplifier is able to only operate inside of a particular frequency range. Any signals outside this range will be removed. As such the frequency response gives a crucial clue regarding whether a certain amplifier might be appropriate for a certain application. This range is specified by listing two frequencies: a lower in addition to upper frequency. By way of example, the lower frequency might be 20 Hz and the upper frequency 20 kHz. Using this spec it appears the amp could function as a HIFI amp. You could be lured to choose an amplifier that gives the largest frequency response. Then again, there's more to knowing an amplifier's functionality than merely realizing this simple range.

An amplifier is created to amplify an audio signal sufficiently in order to drive a couple of speakers to moderate or higher volume. Suppliers generally present the frequency range over which the amplifier works. Commonly a lower and upper frequency are provided, just like 20 Hz - 20 kHz. This specification suggests that the amplifier can amplify music inside of this frequency range. You could possibly be lured to choose an amp which provides the biggest frequency response. Then again, there's more to understanding an amplifier's performance than only knowing this simple range. Seems like there are lots of methods which suppliers make use of when specifying the frequency response. The most widely used method is to describe the frequency response as the frequency range within which the amp will have quite constant gain having a maximum decrease of 3 decibel (dB). Ordinarily the decline in gain is greatest at the upper and lower frequency.

However, numerous manufacturers disregard this convention. They push the lower frequency and upper frequency to where the amp barely offers any kind of gain. On top of that, these numbers say nothing about how linear the amplifier is working within this range. Ideally you should really attempt to get a frequency response diagram from the maker. In this diagram, you will find how the amplifier functions within the frequency response range. Additionally you can spot any peaks and valleys the amp might have. Peaks along with valleys may cause colorization of the audio. If possible the amp should have a constant amplification inside the complete frequency response aside from the drop off at the upper and lower limit. Apart from the frequency response, a phase response chart may also tell a lot regarding the functionality and also sound quality of the amplifier.

You also want to look at the circumstances under which the frequency response was calculated. You usually are not going to find any specifics about the measurement conditions, unfortunately, in the manufacturer's data sheet. One condition which can affect the frequency response is the impedance of the speaker attached to the amp. Standard speaker impedances range between 2 to 16 Ohms. The lower the loudspeaker impedance the higher the burden for the amplifier.

Several of the latest digital amplifiers feed back the music signal after the lowpass filter in order to compensate for this drawback and also to make the frequency response of the amplifier independent of the attached load. Then again, if the amplifier is not designed properly, this kind of feedback could potentially cause instability and bring about loud noise being created by the amp if certain loudspeakers are attached. A different method is to provide dedicated outputs for different speaker impedances which are connected to the amplifier power stage through audio transformers.




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