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sundownz
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- #16
If you look at a data sheet you can see that as a transistor gets hot it has a lower current rating... running an amp at a lower impedance increases the current passing through the transistors, heating them up, and progressively lowering their ability to handle the current until something fails.
Dropping an amp to 1/2 ohm doubles the output current (up until the amp just can't put out more at least) and makes everything less efficient so the power supply in turn draws more current, often times inducing more voltage drop which calls for MORE current to maintain the same output level - again, turning into a cycle if it continues until something fails.
Many amps are robust enough to handle this pretty well - but the more you push the amp and the more clipping that goes on you get closer to realizing the impedance chart I posted above for a square wave which can drop down VERY low. That sort of thing can destroy even a very robust amplifier design when you are already running at 1/2 or less of the rated impedance load.
It all started with SPL competition... where you play ONE sine wave at a known impedance so you can get away with a really low nominal load. That is all well and good, but music is not a single sine wave - you do not know what the impedance curve can do and it CAN drop below the nominal load, unlike "common knowledge" on the forums may tell you.
