amplifier's "slam-factor"


I wonder if anyone can explain me why there are differences in the so called "slam-factor" between different amplifiers (with comparable power ratings). It is well known that for example Krell amplifiers have a high slam-factor, while Mark Levinson amplifiers are quite tame in comparison, even the most powerful ones (> 300 watts per channel). Spectral amplifiers are very fast regarding signal amplification and transmission, but I find them not very "powerful" sounding (high slam-factor), assuming speed is one of the factors which determine whether an amplifier has a high slam-factor or not.
dazzdax

Showing 1 response by ultrakaz

"Slam-factor" has more to do with the amp and speaker combination than it has to do with the amp alone. I've heard speakers take the slam out of amps that supposedly have a lot of slam. And I've heard speakers make supposedly slam-less amps sound slamming.

It would be nice if we could simply look at specs to determine if an amp has slam, but this is not the case. If you do look at specs also look at the speaker's efficiency and impedence. Usually, high efficient and high impedence speakers with lower powered tube amps or low efficient with low impedence with mega wattage solid state amp produces the right amount of slam.