http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/rss.xml Amplifiers take the tiny signal of your media and power it up to send to your loudspeakers. Learn about the different kinds of amplifiers. hourly 12 2006-12-01T00:00 http://www.audioholics.com/static/logo.jpg http://www.audioholics.com/ http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/the-all-channels-driven-acd-amplifier-test Can Your Amp Truly Deliver What It Claims? Just how valid is the ACD test most home theater publications use to measure amplifier power? This article cuts through the nonsense of this hotly debated (and often misunderstood) topic. Gene 2006-07-18T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/switching-amplifiers-the-technology-and-the-issues This article started because a good friend of mine dropped a Panasonic SA-XR50 switch-mode amplifier to me for some basic bench test. This article will NOT be a review of that unit, but an investigation into some of the issues that are happening with this technology. Dan Banquer 2006-04-10T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/switching-amplifier-class-d-basics Just today I read on an internet forum a post by a "hot" new manufacturer of class D amplifiers saying that "the only way to solve the interference problem is to put the amplifier in a completely sealed metal enclosure". Apparently they were trying to excuse the fact that their product renders any nearby tuners useless. This begs the question: why didn't they do so then? Answer: because it doesn't help. Bruno Putzeys 2006-03-02T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/the-high-instantaneous-current-spec This very subject came up recently in the Audioholics forum and I would like to expand on this subject further, but before I do I think it's important to go into the history of how this specification became popular. Dan Banquer 2005-10-25T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/basic-amplifier-measurement-techniques There has been much discussion on many of the audio forums lately regarding mid priced A/V receivers power capabilities as well as their abilities to drive low impedance loads. Much of the controversy steams around the infamous " All Channels Driven Test " which simulates a best case test load in a worst case environment and by all intents and purposes an unrealistic real world scenario. For more information on this, the reader is encouraged to read the following articles: The All Channels Driven Test Controversy and Product Managing Receiver Platforms. Gene 2004-11-26T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/product-managing-receiver-platforms-power-ratings Stereo reproduction in the fifties morphed from separates built by small high-end manufacturers like Saul Marantz to entrepreneurs like Sidney Harman who is credited with marketing the first receiver. Throughout the early sixties Harman-Kardon was joined by other American companies like H.H. Scott, Lafayette and Fisher until, toward the end of the decade, the Japanese joined the receiver category with lower cost receivers touting "innovations" like my (first receiver) JVC with a 5-band equalizer built-in. Gene 2004-11-09T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/the-all-channels-driven-amplifier-test-controversy There has been a lot of controversy on many of the Internet forums regarding power capability of receivers when driving multi-channel speaker systems. Some argue that when a receiver is rated at 100wpc x 7, it should be able to deliver this power to all channels simultaneously. But is this a realistic test condition and requirement to place on such a product whose aim is to provide the highest price/performance in a compact box for the typical consumer? Gene 2004-09-21T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/the-truth-about-digital-class-d-amplifiers Firstly I'd like to point out that "digital amps" is a misnomer. There are two categories: Analog-controlled class D. Switching amplifiers… Bruno Putzeys 2004-08-30T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/damping-factor-effects-on-system-response Much ballyhoo surrounds the concept of "damping factor." It's been suggested that it accounts for the alleged "dramatic differences" in sound between tube and solid state amplifiers. The claim is made (and partially cloaked in some physical reality) that a low source resistance aids in controlling the motion of the cone at resonance and elsewhere. Dick Pierce 2004-08-30T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/audio-amplifier-classes There are several basic classes of amplifiers in use today. Three of the more "audiophile of these are Class A, Class B, and Class AB. With the advent of additional digital amplifier technology this section will continue to be updated. Please stay tuned... Gene 2004-08-30T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article