2. amps-preamps
  3. 1249855754

Amp damping factor?

OK need some technical info. I was told by a reputable source that I should buy an amp that had a high damping factor >100 and preferably closer to 150-200. In looking at this in the specs for many units it seems this might be over-rated. I have been looking at some vintage Mac gear and their numbers are like 10-40? Is that an age thing and modern equipment is just that much better? Or is there a tradeoff I dont know about?
joekapahulu

Showing 2 responses by shadorne

shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
This comes up regularly. A factor of 50 is enough. A factor of 500 means very little in terms of added advantage over a factor of 50. (Remember if you impedance drops to 2.6 ohms at the lowest point then 50 will still get you adequate damping but a factor of 10 will not.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
An amp doesn't have a damping factor. Damping factor is the ratio of the rated impedance of the loudspeaker to the source impedance.

The convention is to report Damping Factor into an 8 ohm load - so for pratical purposes one might say that power amps do indeed have a Damping Factor.

It can be over rated as the woofer drive motor and mechanical as well as acoustic suspension can play a much bigger role. A high damping factor amp is not going to fix a badly designed speaker with low cost drivers with cheap (small) motor - that will be putting lipstick on a pig.
More to discover