Amplifiers
Amplification and the true power produced in an audio system, home
or car, is very misunderstood and can be very misleading to the
average listener.
An amplifier is intended to take an input signal, such as music, and increase
the signal strength to make it play louder. In the world of car stereo, there is
no governing body or set of rules to rate the true power produced by an
amplifier. The most misunderstood and misleading "spec" of amplifiers is their
"rated Power". Most head units today are high power units that can deliver
anywhere from 15 to 45 watts per speaker. It may be possible for the unit to
put out 45 watts to each speaker; but at what distortion rate?
Lets say for example that the average acceptable distortion rate for a car
stereo is 1%. This may seem kinda high when compared to home stereo, but
it is a pretty acceptable rating. The average head unit that claims a rating of
45x4 will probable average a distortion rate of 10% or greater. In order to get
the better sound quality and to keep the distortion down, most head unit's
actually only putout half of they're rated power. This is not to say that all head
units put out really bad sound that is distorted and hard to listen to. Its just
hard to get an AM/FM tuner with CD player and CD changer control and all
the other features your looking for AND a built in 45x4 amplifier that fits nice
and neat in your dash. Some things have to give and suffer.
This is where an add on amplifier comes in. External amplifiers are dedicated
to one thing amplifying the music. Pure and simple. Now there are all kinds of
amps and channel configurations and watts per channel. Then there are the
space limitations that your vehicle present as well as electrical system
requirements. This is when you should stop by and discuss what is right for
you and your car and what you want to accomplish.
A good example to remember when referring to amplifiers is this: A 4 cylinder,
8 cylinder and a 12 cylinder will all go 55 mph. But what happens when you
want to go 125 mph (We are not telling you to speed, we're just offering an
example here), most 4 cylinders would have blown up a long time ago. Only a
good, strong V-8 will handle this, but you'll notice it struggling. The V-12, has
passed 125 and is still going. This is how an amplifier works, the more power
you have, the loader you can play. And with more power, you will have less
distortion at the higher levels.
Amplification and the true power produced in an audio system, home
or car, is very misunderstood and can be very misleading to the
average listener.
An amplifier is intended to take an input signal, such as music, and increase
the signal strength to make it play louder. In the world of car stereo, there is
no governing body or set of rules to rate the true power produced by an
amplifier. The most misunderstood and misleading "spec" of amplifiers is their
"rated Power". Most head units today are high power units that can deliver
anywhere from 15 to 45 watts per speaker. It may be possible for the unit to
put out 45 watts to each speaker; but at what distortion rate?
Lets say for example that the average acceptable distortion rate for a car
stereo is 1%. This may seem kinda high when compared to home stereo, but
it is a pretty acceptable rating. The average head unit that claims a rating of
45x4 will probable average a distortion rate of 10% or greater. In order to get
the better sound quality and to keep the distortion down, most head unit's
actually only putout half of they're rated power. This is not to say that all head
units put out really bad sound that is distorted and hard to listen to. Its just
hard to get an AM/FM tuner with CD player and CD changer control and all
the other features your looking for AND a built in 45x4 amplifier that fits nice
and neat in your dash. Some things have to give and suffer.
This is where an add on amplifier comes in. External amplifiers are dedicated
to one thing amplifying the music. Pure and simple. Now there are all kinds of
amps and channel configurations and watts per channel. Then there are the
space limitations that your vehicle present as well as electrical system
requirements. This is when you should stop by and discuss what is right for
you and your car and what you want to accomplish.
A good example to remember when referring to amplifiers is this: A 4 cylinder,
8 cylinder and a 12 cylinder will all go 55 mph. But what happens when you
want to go 125 mph (We are not telling you to speed, we're just offering an
example here), most 4 cylinders would have blown up a long time ago. Only a
good, strong V-8 will handle this, but you'll notice it struggling. The V-12, has
passed 125 and is still going. This is how an amplifier works, the more power
you have, the loader you can play. And with more power, you will have less
distortion at the higher levels.
163B South Stratford Rd. Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103 (336) 631-3065 or Contact Us. |