CHAPTER 12

Power Amplifiers

CHAPTER Contents

Domestic Power Amplifiers

Professional Amplifier Facilities

Specifications

Sensitivity

Power Output

Frequency Response

Distortion

Crosstalk

Signal-to-Noise Ratio

Impedance

Damping Factor

Phase Response

Coupling

Recommended further reading

Power amplifiers come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and ‘generations’, but they are all required to do the ostensibly simple job of providing voltage amplification — converting line levels of up to a volt or so into several tens of volts, with output currents in the ampere range to develop the necessary power across the loudspeaker terminals. Given these few requirements, it is perhaps surprising how many designs there are on the market.

Domestic Power Amplifiers ...

Get Sound and Recording, 8th Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.