2. amps-preamps
  3. 153225-130247

Watts and power

Can somebody break it down in layman's terms for me? Why is it that sometimes an amp that has a high watt rating (like, say, a lot of class D amps do) don't seem to always have the balls that much lower rated A or AB amps do? I have heard some people say, "It's not the watts, it's the power supply." Are they talking about big honkin' toroidal transformers? I know opinions vary on a speaker like, say, Magnepans - Maggies love power, right? A lot of people caution against using class D amps to drive them and then will turn around and say that a receiver like the Outlaw RR2160 (rated at 110 watts into 8 ohms) drives Maggies really well! I'm not really asking about differences between Class D, A, or AB so much as I am asking about how can you tell the POWER an amp has from the specs? 
redstarwraith

Showing 1 response by unfairlane

unfairlane's avatar
unfairlane
140 posts
 
An amplifiers watts or amps is much like a cars topspeed, just a number. It says wery little about it`s authority, it`s punch or torque.  The amp`s weight might indicate some grunt, but just that. 
Why? because it is all about how this amp are capable to deliver it`s power fast enough. And that again depends on the internal cabling, trafos included.

And while I`m on, dampinfactor calculated from output impedance is a misunderstanding, it means nuthin. But tell me the size of your secondarys..
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