How Do Audio Amps Function?
De BISAWiki
Audio amplifiers are an essential ingredient of most home audio systemsThey are a crucial link between a speaker and your audio sourceIf you are in the market for a new amplifier or if you are interested in learning more about how audio amplifiers work, read through the next few paragraphs to get a better understanding of the inner workings of audio amplifiers.
An audio amplifier's main task is to take a low-level audio signal at its input and magnify it sufficiently in order to be able to drive the loudspeakerNot only does the amplitude of the audio signal increase but the impedance which the audio amplifier presents at its output has to be a lot less than the input impedance of the amplifierThe typical output impedance of an audio source can be several kOhmsIf you were to connect your source correctly to a speaker, only a very small portion of the audio signal would actually be driving the speaker due to the high impedance of your sourceHowever, having an amplifier in between your source and your speaker, most of the signal that comes from the amplifier is being used to drive the transducer of your speaker.
The sound quality which you can get from the speaker depends a lot on the audio amplifier itself as well as the quality of the speakerMost likely, when you purchase a new audio amplifier, the topology of the amplifier will be a "Class-D" topologyThis particular amplifier topology offers very high power efficiencyAs a result, very little power is wasted inside the amplifierHaving a high power efficiency, the amplifier can be made quite smallIn fact, there are a few miniature audio amps on the market which are no bigger than a deck of cardsThese audio amps typically use their own enclosure to radiate any dissipated powerAudio amps with a higher wattage typically have ribs in the enclosure which allow for better ventilation.
Keep in mind, however, Class-D power amplifiers do not offer the same sound quality as their analog counterpartsThis is because the switching architecture inside the amplifier introduces several sources which tend to distort the signal to some degreeAudio distortion will reduce the sound qualityHowever, tube amplifiers for example also have fairly high audio distortion while being analog in operationSome people prefer audio amps which cause a certain amount of distortion as long as the higher harmonic signal components show a consistent reduction with higher frequencies.
Class-A audio amps as well as Class-AB amps usually have far less distortion than digital audio ampsThis is because all of the stages inside the amplifier are based on analog technologyAs such, there will be much less distortion introduced by a t-ampThe main drawback of amplifiers which use this type of analog amplification is their low power efficiencyDue to their low power efficiency, analog audio amps require a fair amount of ventilation. prova detta If you connect a speaker that has an impedance which is lower than the minimal impedance which the amplifier is rated for, you might actually damage your audio ampIf the speaker impedance, on the other hand, is too high then the amp most likely is not going to be able to deliver high enough wattage to the speaker and thus the speaker will not get very loudAlso, certain speaker impedances tend to cause the amplifier to become unstable and oscillateThose types of oscillations can actually damage your speaker.
