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Signal to noise ratio question
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<blockquote data-quote="helotaxi" data-source="post: 7080803" data-attributes="member: 550915"><p>Well with damping factor simply listing output impedance would be much more informative.</p><p></p><p>The one thing that I found amusing was that the current magazines test amp s/n against rated power. What a worthless test! The old CSR tests gave numbers always agains 1W and IIRC with the gain control at min and max. That is actually a telling test. I seem to recall the original Soundstream REF300 being the quietest amp they ever tested at around 98dB to 1W.</p><p></p><p>There are some reasons to go with a more expensive amp but whether it's worth it or not is up to the person. I don't buy into the whole mystique surrounding high dollar SQ amps. Where I can justify spending more money for the same power is in the tolerances in the components, the quality of the spec'd components and the overall QC from the company. A warranty is all well and good but I would much rather buy a solid design made with good parts and not have to use the warranty.</p><p></p><p>With a quality amp built with quality parts from a quality design, the variance between s/n, THD, power output and efficiency between a randomly selected sample of amps will be very small. The same can't be said about budget amps. One sample might destroy its ratings while the next barely make spec or not make spec at all. One might be really noisy and another amazing. It all comes down to luck of the draw and I'll pay a bit more to stack the deck in my favor on that one.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="helotaxi, post: 7080803, member: 550915"] Well with damping factor simply listing output impedance would be much more informative. The one thing that I found amusing was that the current magazines test amp s/n against rated power. What a worthless test! The old CSR tests gave numbers always agains 1W and IIRC with the gain control at min and max. That is actually a telling test. I seem to recall the original Soundstream REF300 being the quietest amp they ever tested at around 98dB to 1W. There are some reasons to go with a more expensive amp but whether it's worth it or not is up to the person. I don't buy into the whole mystique surrounding high dollar SQ amps. Where I can justify spending more money for the same power is in the tolerances in the components, the quality of the spec'd components and the overall QC from the company. A warranty is all well and good but I would much rather buy a solid design made with good parts and not have to use the warranty. With a quality amp built with quality parts from a quality design, the variance between s/n, THD, power output and efficiency between a randomly selected sample of amps will be very small. The same can't be said about budget amps. One sample might destroy its ratings while the next barely make spec or not make spec at all. One might be really noisy and another amazing. It all comes down to luck of the draw and I'll pay a bit more to stack the deck in my favor on that one. [/QUOTE]
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