To help you decide on an audio amplifier, I will describe the expression "signal-to-noise ratio" which is commonly used to express the performance of audio amplifiers. Once you have chosen a range of amplifiers, it is time to explore some of the specifications in more detail in order to help you narrow down your search to one model. One important parameter of power amps is the signal-to-noise ratio. To put it simply, the signal-to-noise ratio explains how much hum or hiss the amplifier will add to the audio signal. This ratio is usually shown in decibel or "db" for short.
After you have narrowed down your search by glancing at several fundamental criteria, like the amount of output power, the size of the amp and the cost, you will still have quite a few products to choose from. Now it is time to take a look at some of the technical specs in more detail. The signal-to-noise ratio is a fairly vital specification and describes how much noise or hiss the amplifier creates.
In order to help you compare the noise performance, amplifier producers show the signal-to-noise ratio in their amp spec sheets. Simply put, the higher the signal-to-noise ratio, the lower the level of noise the amplifier produces. One of the reasons why amplifiers generate noise is the fact that they use elements like transistors and resistors that by nature generate noise. Because the amp overall noise performance is mostly determined by the performance of elements located at the amp input, makers will try to pick low-noise elements whilst developing the amp input stage.
A lot of of modern amps are based on a digital switching architecture. They are known as "class-D" or "class-T" amplifiers. Switching amplifiers incorporate a power stage that is always switched at a frequency of around 400 kHz. This switching noise may cause a certain amount of speaker distortion but is usually not included in the the signal-to-noise ratio which merely considers noise between 20 Hz and 20 kHz.
The signal-to-noise ratio is measured by inputting a 1 kHz test signal 60 dB below the full scale and measuring the noise floor of the amplifier. The volume of the amp is set such that the full output wattage of the amplifier can be achieved. Next, only the hiss in the range of 20 Hz and 20 kHz is considered. The noise at other frequencies is removed by a filter. After that the amount of the noise energy in relation to the full-scale output wattage is calculated and expressed in decibel.
Often you will find the term "dBA" or "a-weighted" in your amplifier spec sheet. A weighting is a method of expressing the noise floor in a more subjective way. In other words, this technique attempts to state how the noise is perceived by a person. Human hearing is most sensitive to signals around 1 kHz while signals under 50 Hz and higher than 14 kHz are barely heard. An A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio weighs the noise floor according to the human hearing and is generally higher than the unweighted signal-to-noise ratio.
After you have narrowed down your search by glancing at several fundamental criteria, like the amount of output power, the size of the amp and the cost, you will still have quite a few products to choose from. Now it is time to take a look at some of the technical specs in more detail. The signal-to-noise ratio is a fairly vital specification and describes how much noise or hiss the amplifier creates.
In order to help you compare the noise performance, amplifier producers show the signal-to-noise ratio in their amp spec sheets. Simply put, the higher the signal-to-noise ratio, the lower the level of noise the amplifier produces. One of the reasons why amplifiers generate noise is the fact that they use elements like transistors and resistors that by nature generate noise. Because the amp overall noise performance is mostly determined by the performance of elements located at the amp input, makers will try to pick low-noise elements whilst developing the amp input stage.
A lot of of modern amps are based on a digital switching architecture. They are known as "class-D" or "class-T" amplifiers. Switching amplifiers incorporate a power stage that is always switched at a frequency of around 400 kHz. This switching noise may cause a certain amount of speaker distortion but is usually not included in the the signal-to-noise ratio which merely considers noise between 20 Hz and 20 kHz.
The signal-to-noise ratio is measured by inputting a 1 kHz test signal 60 dB below the full scale and measuring the noise floor of the amplifier. The volume of the amp is set such that the full output wattage of the amplifier can be achieved. Next, only the hiss in the range of 20 Hz and 20 kHz is considered. The noise at other frequencies is removed by a filter. After that the amount of the noise energy in relation to the full-scale output wattage is calculated and expressed in decibel.
Often you will find the term "dBA" or "a-weighted" in your amplifier spec sheet. A weighting is a method of expressing the noise floor in a more subjective way. In other words, this technique attempts to state how the noise is perceived by a person. Human hearing is most sensitive to signals around 1 kHz while signals under 50 Hz and higher than 14 kHz are barely heard. An A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio weighs the noise floor according to the human hearing and is generally higher than the unweighted signal-to-noise ratio.
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