Are you looking to buy a brand new amplifier for your home speakers? You might be dazzled by the number of alternatives you have. To make an informed selection, it is best to familiarize yourself with frequent specs. One of these specs is known as "signal-to-noise ratio" and is not frequently understood. I will help clarify the meaning of this term.
Once you have selected a range of amplifiers, it's time to explore some of the specs in more detail in order to help you narrow down your search to one product. An important criterion of power amps is the signal-to-noise ratio. To put it simply, the signal-to-noise ratio shows how much hum or hiss the amplifier is going to add to the music signal. This ratio is commonly shown in decibel or "db" for short.
Whilst glancing at the amp specification sheet, you want to look for an amplifier with a large signal-to-noise ratio figure which suggests that the amp outputs a low level of hiss. There are numerous reasons why power amps will add some form of noise or other unwanted signal. Transistors and resistors which are part of each modern amp by nature create noise. The overall noise is dependent on how much hiss each component produces. Nonetheless, the position of these elements is also essential. Elements which are part of the amplifier input stage will usually contribute most of the noise.
The majority of of recent amps are based on a digital switching architecture. They are known as "class-D" or "class-T" amps. Switching amps include a power stage which is continuously switched at a frequency of approximately 400 kHz. As a result, the output signal of switching amps have a moderately big amount of switching noise. This noise component, though, is generally impossible to hear as it is well above 20 kHz. On the other hand, it can still contribute to loudspeaker distortion. Signal-to-noise ratio is usually only shown within the range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Thus, a lowpass filter is used while measuring switching amplifiers in order to remove the switching noise.
Most of latest power amps are digital amplifiers, also called "class-d amplifiers". Class-D amplifiers make use of a switching stage which oscillates at a frequency between 300 kHz to 1 MHz. This switching frequency is also hiss that is part of the amplified signal. Nonetheless, modern amp specs generally only consider the noise between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. Manufacturers measure the signal-to-noise ratio by means of setting the amplifier such that the full output swing may be realized and by feeding a test tone to the amplifier which is typically 60 dB below the full scale of the amp. After that the noise-floor energy is measured 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 expression "dBA" or "a-weighted" in your amp specification sheet. A weighting is a method of expressing the noise floor in a more subjective way. This technique was designed with the knowledge that human hearing perceives noise at different frequencies differently. Human hearing is most responsive to signals around 1 kHz. Though, signals below 50 Hz and higher than 13 kHz are barely noticed. The A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio is frequently larger than the unweighted ratio and is shown in a lot of amplifier specification sheets.
Once you have selected a range of amplifiers, it's time to explore some of the specs in more detail in order to help you narrow down your search to one product. An important criterion of power amps is the signal-to-noise ratio. To put it simply, the signal-to-noise ratio shows how much hum or hiss the amplifier is going to add to the music signal. This ratio is commonly shown in decibel or "db" for short.
Whilst glancing at the amp specification sheet, you want to look for an amplifier with a large signal-to-noise ratio figure which suggests that the amp outputs a low level of hiss. There are numerous reasons why power amps will add some form of noise or other unwanted signal. Transistors and resistors which are part of each modern amp by nature create noise. The overall noise is dependent on how much hiss each component produces. Nonetheless, the position of these elements is also essential. Elements which are part of the amplifier input stage will usually contribute most of the noise.
The majority of of recent amps are based on a digital switching architecture. They are known as "class-D" or "class-T" amps. Switching amps include a power stage which is continuously switched at a frequency of approximately 400 kHz. As a result, the output signal of switching amps have a moderately big amount of switching noise. This noise component, though, is generally impossible to hear as it is well above 20 kHz. On the other hand, it can still contribute to loudspeaker distortion. Signal-to-noise ratio is usually only shown within the range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Thus, a lowpass filter is used while measuring switching amplifiers in order to remove the switching noise.
Most of latest power amps are digital amplifiers, also called "class-d amplifiers". Class-D amplifiers make use of a switching stage which oscillates at a frequency between 300 kHz to 1 MHz. This switching frequency is also hiss that is part of the amplified signal. Nonetheless, modern amp specs generally only consider the noise between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. Manufacturers measure the signal-to-noise ratio by means of setting the amplifier such that the full output swing may be realized and by feeding a test tone to the amplifier which is typically 60 dB below the full scale of the amp. After that the noise-floor energy is measured 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 expression "dBA" or "a-weighted" in your amp specification sheet. A weighting is a method of expressing the noise floor in a more subjective way. This technique was designed with the knowledge that human hearing perceives noise at different frequencies differently. Human hearing is most responsive to signals around 1 kHz. Though, signals below 50 Hz and higher than 13 kHz are barely noticed. The A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio is frequently larger than the unweighted ratio and is shown in a lot of amplifier specification sheets.
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