Several Suggestions In Order To Help Comprehend The Noise Performance Of Latest Power Amplifiers

By Sherry Lambert


To help you pick an audio amp, I will explain the expression "signal-to-noise ratio" that is usually used to express the performance of audio amps.

While searching for an amp, you initially are going to check the cost, wattage amongst other essential criteria. However, after this initial selection, you will still have numerous models to choose from. Next you will concentrate more on some of the technical specifications, such as signal-to-noise ratio in addition to harmonic distortion. Each amplifier will create a certain level of hiss and hum. The signal-to-noise ratio is going to help quantify the level of static generated by the amp.

One way to perform a straightforward assessment of the noise performance of an amplifier is to short circuit the amp input and then to crank up the amp to its utmost. Then listen to the speaker which you have attached. You will hear some amount of hissing and/or hum coming from the speaker. This hiss is generated by the amp itself. Make certain that the gain of the amplifiers is set to the same level. Otherwise you will not be able to objectively compare the amount of static between different amps. The general rule is: the smaller the amount of hiss which you hear the better the noise performance. To help you compare the noise performance, amp suppliers publish the signal-to-noise ratio in their amplifier specification sheets. Simply put, the larger the signal-to-noise ratio, the smaller the level of noise the amplifier creates. Noise is produced due to several factors. One reason is that today's amplifiers all employ elements like transistors and resistors. Those components will produce some amount of noise. Mostly the elements which are located at the input stage of an amp are going to contribute most to the overall noise. Consequently suppliers typically will select low-noise elements when developing the amplifier input stage.

Most latest power amps incorporate a power switching stage which switches at a frequency around 500 kHz. This switching frequency is also noise that is part of the amplified signal. On the other hand, latest amplifier specs normally only consider the hiss between 20 Hz and 20 kHz.

The most popular method for measuring the signal-to-noise ratio is to set the amp to a gain which allows the maximum output swing. Then a test signal is input to the amplifier. The frequency of this signal is typically 1 kHz. The amplitude of this signal is 60 dB below the full scale signal. Then the noise-floor energy is measured in the frequency range between 20 Hz and 20 kHz and compared with the full scale signal energy.

An additional convention in order to state the signal-to-noise ratio uses more subjective terms. These terms are "dBA" or "A weighted". You will discover these terms in most amplifier parameter sheets. This technique was designed with the knowledge that human hearing perceives noise at different frequencies differently. Human hearing is most perceptive to signals around 1 kHz. Then again, signals under 50 Hz and higher than 13 kHz are barely heard. The A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio is frequently higher than the unweighted ratio and is published in the majority of amp spec sheets.




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