THD Question

[2kchevy06civic 5,000+ posts]

Hey, I have a question about THD. I tried searching on the forums about what exactly this is, why it's important, and what numbers to look for when purchasing an amp. I didn't come across to many helpful topics. So, could you plz tell me what's a good range to look at (the THD) when buying an amp? And, what exactly does it do?

sorry, I'm still fairly new to a lot of this stuff. Any help would be greatly appreciated. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif

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[zane 10+ year member]

Hey, I have a question about THD. I tried searching on the forums about what exactly this is, why it's important, and what numbers to look for when purchasing an amp. I didn't come across to many helpful topics. So, could you plz tell me what's a good range to look at (the THD) when buying an amp? And, what exactly does it do?
sorry, I'm still fairly new to a lot of this stuff. Any help would be greatly appreciated. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif

THD = Total Harmonic Distortion.

In a nutshell, it's just distortion that any amplifier adds to the signal.

Most amplifiers today have THD ratings below 1% which is not audible.

That being said, THD should not play a large factor in selecting your amplifier.

More informtion can be found here:

http://www.bcae1.com/thd.htm

 

[Expy2000]

THD is ‘Total Harmonic Distortion’. It is a measure of how much a device can distort a signal. Technically it is defined as the ratio of the sum of the power of distorted frequency to the sum of the fundamental frequency. This gives us the measure of the amount of distortion a device can cause. This should preferably be low. It is believed that THD figures below approximately 0.1% are inaudible. However, it should be realized that distortion adds, so that if a head unit, equalizer, signal processor, crossover, amplifier and speaker are all rated at "no greater than 0.1%THD", together, they could produce 0.6%THD, which could be noticeable in the output.

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[2kchevy06civic 5,000+ posts]

thanks a lot guys. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/thumbsup.gif.3287b36ca96645a13a43aff531f37f02.gif

 

[jujumantb 10+ year member]

Speakers produce upwards of 5-10% THD IIRC. That should put an amp's THD in perspective for you.

 

[forbidden 10+ year member]

Throw most specs out the window, a sheet of paper with specs on it will never tell you how something will sound to your ears and perform in your car with your equipment. It is a general guide at best. Would you trust someone who has 20 years of hands on experience or someone with 1........ the specs are the same for each person.