Choosing the perfect model is tricky whilst confronted with a great array of different technical jargon and specifications, including "T-amp", "channel separation", "efficiency" and so forth. You might not even fully understand the most essential of these terms, like "amplifier wattage". I will give a quick summary of the output power term in order to help you better comprehend the meaning of this term and how it relates to the performance of an amplifier. If you are looking to acquire an audio amplifier to set up your home loudspeakers, you will frequently be confronted with a number of bizarre technical jargon describing its functioning. But how do these numbers relate to how the amp sounds and how are these to be interpreted? Next I will offer a few details regarding "amplifier output power". This specification is frequently misunderstood. It is important to look quite closely at how the producer shows this parameter.
Some of the terms which amplifier makers make public often are ambiguous and do not necessarily provide a decent indication of the real functioning of the amplifier. Let me now go ahead and clarify the wattage spec of stereo amps.
"Wattage" is every now and then also called "Power" or "amplifier output power". To put it in a nutshell, "wattage" shows how high the amplifier can drive your loudspeakers. The higher this figure the louder your loudspeakers. You want to choose the amp wattage based on how big your listening environment is. Please note that many amplifiers will start clipping the music once the audio reaches higher wattage. If you wish to enjoy low-distortion music then you might wish to choose an amplifier that is going to give you more wattage than you are going to actually need.
Nonetheless, even as the rms spec will tell you more about the amplifiers real performance, be sure however that the amp has a peak power specification which is substantially bigger than the rms spec. This is because most likely you are going to be using the amplifier to amplify music or voice. Music and voice signals by nature always change by way of their power, i.e. the power envelope of the audio is going to fluctuate over time. The main reason is that audio signals are going to have short peaks of high power that the amp has to cope with. Rms power is measured with a uniform sine signal that hardly compares with a music signal by way of the power envelope.
Please note that often the peak output power of the amp will depend upon the impedance of your speakers which is commonly between 4 and 8 Ohms. Amplifiers have a limited output voltage swing because of the fixed internal supply voltage. Hence the maximum output power will vary depending on the speaker impedance. The smaller the loudspeaker impedance the bigger the maximum power the amp can output. As a consequence often highest output power is shown for a specific loudspeaker impedance.
Some of the terms which amplifier makers make public often are ambiguous and do not necessarily provide a decent indication of the real functioning of the amplifier. Let me now go ahead and clarify the wattage spec of stereo amps.
"Wattage" is every now and then also called "Power" or "amplifier output power". To put it in a nutshell, "wattage" shows how high the amplifier can drive your loudspeakers. The higher this figure the louder your loudspeakers. You want to choose the amp wattage based on how big your listening environment is. Please note that many amplifiers will start clipping the music once the audio reaches higher wattage. If you wish to enjoy low-distortion music then you might wish to choose an amplifier that is going to give you more wattage than you are going to actually need.
Nonetheless, even as the rms spec will tell you more about the amplifiers real performance, be sure however that the amp has a peak power specification which is substantially bigger than the rms spec. This is because most likely you are going to be using the amplifier to amplify music or voice. Music and voice signals by nature always change by way of their power, i.e. the power envelope of the audio is going to fluctuate over time. The main reason is that audio signals are going to have short peaks of high power that the amp has to cope with. Rms power is measured with a uniform sine signal that hardly compares with a music signal by way of the power envelope.
Please note that often the peak output power of the amp will depend upon the impedance of your speakers which is commonly between 4 and 8 Ohms. Amplifiers have a limited output voltage swing because of the fixed internal supply voltage. Hence the maximum output power will vary depending on the speaker impedance. The smaller the loudspeaker impedance the bigger the maximum power the amp can output. As a consequence often highest output power is shown for a specific loudspeaker impedance.