How can you tell how clean an amp is?

[AMA 10+ year member]

That's my question. Is there something in an amps ratings that tell you how clean the amp is? If not than how can I tell if this amp will give me cleaner power than that amp?

Thankx.

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[tEh koRnDog 5,000+ posts]

things like THD and sensitivity affect it

 

[pickup1 5,000+ posts]

look at thd and signal to noise ratio

on thd,the lower the better

on signal to noise ratio,the higher the better

plus you get what you pay for,meaning,dont expect great things out of a $50 1000 watt amp,versus a $1000 50 watt amp.

look for good brand names,jl,alpine us amps etc...versus boss,pyramid,legact.

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

Channel seperation as well as Damping factor are also things to look at in getting the best quality amplifier.

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

when there's little to no dirt on it.

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

when there's little to no dirt on it.

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[thylantyr 10+ year member]

That's my question. Is there something in an amps ratings that tell you how clean the amp is? If not than how can I tell if this amp will give me cleaner power than that amp?
Thankx.

Aside from the normal parameters you see published, I would look at

lower impedance power ratings. Manufacturers won't publish bad

distortion numbers in spite that it might have it, lol ...

Because speakers are reactive, the amplifier needs to handle this

issue to ensure it performs well. With the exception of power regulating

amplifiers {very few on the market, I can only think of one}, if the

amplifier has higher power ratings into a lower impedance, that is good

news. ie

Roughly..........

Great specs;

100w/ch @ 4 ohms

200w/ch @ 2 ohms

400w/ch @ 1 ohms

Very good specs;

100w/ch @ 4 ohms

175w/ch @ 2 ohms

250w/ch @ 1 ohms

Good specs;

100w/ch @ 4 ohms

150w/ch @ 2 ohms

200w/ch @ 1 ohms

Weak specs;

100w/ch @ 4 ohms

not 2 ohm stable.

The weak amp would probably be good only to drive easy loads like tweeters.

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

I mean of course its nice to see an amp create more power into lower resistances, I don't think thats an ideal way of determining if the amp is clean or not.

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/search.php?searchid=1714679

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

I mean of course its nice to see an amp create more power into lower resistances, I don't think thats an ideal way of determining if the amp is clean or not.

There is no ideal way by just looking at specs. But if you are limited to looking

at specs, I always check it's power capabilities also at low impedance, it's

another variable to learn how the amplifier hehaves. If it can't drive low impedances well, SQ can suffer.

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

run your finger over it, and if theres residue, then it's dirty.

 

[PatFitz9 10+ year member]

also, not that this is a way to judge, but most companies that overrate their amps aren't the best. and switching that, companies that underrate thier amps usually have higher quality standards.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

I'm surprised this thread has made it this far w/o starting up the "amps don't have sq" debate.

In my simplistic view - it's like this.

A high quality amp (say -- RF and beyond) will be "clean" at rated power and any stable impedance. "Clean" at least to a level far beyond what we can distinguish.

A mid quality amp (ex Hifonics) is going to be clean until it gets near rated power - where it may begin to clip and sound not so clean.

A low quality amp (ex pyramid) is going to sound clean at low power and distort long before you would expect it to relative to the ridiculous power ratings.

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

my amp is riding dirty //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[AMA 10+ year member]

Thanks for all the info guys that helps.