To help you choose an audio amp, I am going to clarify the term "signal-to-noise ratio" that is frequently utilized in order to describe the performance of audio amps. Once you have chosen a range of amps, it's time to investigate several of the specifications in more detail to help you narrow down your search to one product. The signal-to-noise ratio is a fairly essential parameter and describes how much noise or hiss the amplifier produces.
Once you have narrowed down your search by looking at some key criteria, such as the amount of output power, the dimensions of the amp and the cost, you will still have quite a few models to choose from. Now it is time to look at a couple of the technical specs in more detail. The signal-to-noise ratio is a fairly essential specification and shows how much noise or hiss the amp produces.
Evaluating the noise level of several amps can be accomplished quite easily. Just collect a number of models that you want to evaluate and short circuit the inputs. Next put the amp volume to maximum and check the amount of hiss by listening to the loudspeaker. Typically you will hear two components. The first is hissing. In addition, you are going to regularly hear a hum at 50 or 60 Hz. Both of these are components which are created by the amplifier itself. Make sure that the volume of the amplifiers is set to the same amount. Otherwise you will not be able to objectively evaluate the amount of hiss between several amplifiers. The general rule is: the lower the level of noise which you hear the better the noise performance. In order to help you compare the noise performance, amplifier manufacturers publish the signal-to-noise ratio in their amp spec sheets. Simply put, the larger the signal-to-noise ratio, the smaller the amount of noise the amp produces. One of the reasons why amplifiers generate noise is the fact that they utilize components like transistors and resistors which by nature produce noise. The overall noise depends on how much noise every component produces. However, the position of these components is also significant. Elements which are part of the amp input stage are going to in general contribute most of the noise.
When looking at the amp specification sheet, you want to look for an amp with a high signal-to-noise ratio number which suggests that the amplifier outputs a low amount of static. One of the reasons why amplifiers make noise is the fact that they utilize elements including transistors as well as resistors that by nature create noise. As the amp overall noise performance is mostly determined by the performance of elements situated at the amplifier input, manufacturers are going to attempt to pick low-noise elements while designing the amp input stage.
The most widespread technique for measuring the signal-to-noise ratio is to set the amp to a gain that allows the maximum output swing. Subsequently a test signal is input to the amplifier. The frequency of this signal is typically 1 kHz. The amplitude of this signal is 60 dB underneath the full scale signal. Subsequently the noise-floor energy is calculated in the frequency range between 20 Hz and 20 kHz and compared with the full scale signal energy.
Time and again you are going to find the term "dBA" or "a-weighted" in your amp spec sheet. A weighting is a method of showing the noise floor in a more subjective way. This technique tries to examine in how far the amp noise is perceived by human hearing which is most perceptive to signals at frequencies at 1 kHz. For that reason an A-weighting filter will magnify the noise floor for frequencies that are easily perceived and suppress the noise floor at frequencies that are barely noticed. Many amplifiers will show a larger A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio than the un-weighted ratio.
Once you have narrowed down your search by looking at some key criteria, such as the amount of output power, the dimensions of the amp and the cost, you will still have quite a few models to choose from. Now it is time to look at a couple of the technical specs in more detail. The signal-to-noise ratio is a fairly essential specification and shows how much noise or hiss the amp produces.
Evaluating the noise level of several amps can be accomplished quite easily. Just collect a number of models that you want to evaluate and short circuit the inputs. Next put the amp volume to maximum and check the amount of hiss by listening to the loudspeaker. Typically you will hear two components. The first is hissing. In addition, you are going to regularly hear a hum at 50 or 60 Hz. Both of these are components which are created by the amplifier itself. Make sure that the volume of the amplifiers is set to the same amount. Otherwise you will not be able to objectively evaluate the amount of hiss between several amplifiers. The general rule is: the lower the level of noise which you hear the better the noise performance. In order to help you compare the noise performance, amplifier manufacturers publish the signal-to-noise ratio in their amp spec sheets. Simply put, the larger the signal-to-noise ratio, the smaller the amount of noise the amp produces. One of the reasons why amplifiers generate noise is the fact that they utilize components like transistors and resistors which by nature produce noise. The overall noise depends on how much noise every component produces. However, the position of these components is also significant. Elements which are part of the amp input stage are going to in general contribute most of the noise.
When looking at the amp specification sheet, you want to look for an amp with a high signal-to-noise ratio number which suggests that the amplifier outputs a low amount of static. One of the reasons why amplifiers make noise is the fact that they utilize elements including transistors as well as resistors that by nature create noise. As the amp overall noise performance is mostly determined by the performance of elements situated at the amplifier input, manufacturers are going to attempt to pick low-noise elements while designing the amp input stage.
The most widespread technique for measuring the signal-to-noise ratio is to set the amp to a gain that allows the maximum output swing. Subsequently a test signal is input to the amplifier. The frequency of this signal is typically 1 kHz. The amplitude of this signal is 60 dB underneath the full scale signal. Subsequently the noise-floor energy is calculated in the frequency range between 20 Hz and 20 kHz and compared with the full scale signal energy.
Time and again you are going to find the term "dBA" or "a-weighted" in your amp spec sheet. A weighting is a method of showing the noise floor in a more subjective way. This technique tries to examine in how far the amp noise is perceived by human hearing which is most perceptive to signals at frequencies at 1 kHz. For that reason an A-weighting filter will magnify the noise floor for frequencies that are easily perceived and suppress the noise floor at frequencies that are barely noticed. Many amplifiers will show a larger A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio than the un-weighted ratio.
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