Regarding amps and current numbers among amps/receivers..

[aaharvel]

is there any standard number that defines what makes an amp/receiver have "good", "great" or "little" headroom in terms of amps?

My H/K 235 has +/-35 amps of current and my H/K Signature amp belts out +/100 amps of current.

Other than a "more is better" approach, what is the standard if any when it comes to this spec on receivers and amplifiers? I've never seen this figure even advertised except on H/K stuff.

[heiney9]

It mostly comes down to the # of output tranny's and the quality size of the PS and bypass caps. There is no hard and fast rule or spec to look at. It all comes down to design and how eveything works together.

H9

[tonyb]

It mostly comes down to the # of output tranny's and the quality size of the PS and bypass caps. There is no hard and fast rule or spec to look at. It all comes down to design and how eveything works together.

H9

As with all manufacturers,they pick and choose what
they want to highlight,when prom. their products.Is there
a standard?Not really,as said above,design and how everything works together is most important.Have heard gear build with the best
of the best inards and sounded no better than some mid-fi
gear.Isn't that why we all chase down that older,well designed
gear to begin with?That and they sound as good if not better than some of the crap out there today.

[Mike682]

is there any standard number that defines what makes an amp/receiver have "good", "great" or "little" headroom in terms of amps?

My H/K 235 has +/-35 amps of current and my H/K Signature amp belts out +/100 amps of current.

Other than a "more is better" approach, what is the standard if any when it comes to this spec on receivers and amplifiers? I've never seen this figure even advertised except on H/K stuff.

We know the amount and that's it. I think a good compliment spec to peak #amps should be the duration of the peak and the amt of distortion during the peak and maybe at which frequencies also..

I also wondered if an amp is putting out ~35 amps and higher, shouldn't this amount of current fry a typical 14-16 guage speaker wire??

Oh yeah, how is the new amp??

[jdhdiggs]

Watch out just using maximum amps ratings. Rail voltage also plays a big part as well (Especially with higher ohm speakers).

It is poosible to design an amp that can handle say 1,000 Amps (or whatever other absurd number you like) and if it only has 1V on the rails, the amp spec is worthless.

I would check the rail voltage, total amount of capacitors, and transformer sizing as well as the max amps and compare it to the rated power. That should give you a better idea of headroom.

[heiney9]

Rail voltage is the key, yes. Also a poorer design maybe able to quote a specific rail voltage, but saggiing rail voltage is an issue. At some point all RV will sag, but for the more robust designs this is not an issue until you are beyond normal operating limits. Remember one part of the current equation is Voltage.

As for the 35 amp and speaker wire. The 35 amp rating is a peak for less time than it takes to snap your fingers. Continuous output in that ampre range would certainly fry more than just the speaker wire insulation. :)

H9

[aaharvel]

We know the amount and that's it. I think a good compliment spec to peak #amps should be the duration of the peak and the amt of distortion during the peak and maybe at which frequencies also..

I also wondered if an amp is putting out ~35 amps and higher, shouldn't this amount of current fry a typical 14-16 guage speaker wire??

Oh yeah, how is the new amp??

should be getting it today or tomorrow. My speakers aren't that hard to drive anywhoo, so i'm thinking 100x5 at +/-100 amps of current is overkill for what I have- but oh well. Thanks for the knowledge. I don't know anything about current or amperes except for what I said earlier and I guess that more is better..

[aaharvel]

Watch out just using maximum amps ratings. Rail voltage also plays a big part as well (Especially with higher ohm speakers).

It is poosible to design an amp that can handle say 1,000 Amps (or whatever other absurd number you like) and if it only has 1V on the rails, the amp spec is worthless.

I would check the rail voltage, total amount of capacitors, and transformer sizing as well as the max amps and compare it to the rated power. That should give you a better idea of headroom.

thanks JD I'll do that. According to the pdf file, the amp's got 2caps per channel, and has a heft transformer. The thing weighs 47lbs, so i'm guessing that's prob. average for a 5ch. amp. Again, I don't really know that much about power amps except for what I learned on here and the whole wattage rating issues with most a/v receivers. :)

[jdhdiggs]

Check the Ferrad readings on the caps if you want to be a big nerd. Those would be your power reserves for any big dynamic peaks. The reason is that caps can only be a reserve. The transformer will tell you the the sustainable power.

V=IR V= Volts, I= Amps, R= Resistance

Or V/R= I and Watts is V*A or so I think. I'm a couple bottles of wine down and I don't want to find my circuits book right now. Hold on, asking the rock nerd wife... Ah crap, everyone's toasted and now her co-worker is actually looking it up. Nevermind, he just got more beer. We are giving up tonight.


Edit: drunk

[MrNightly]

Check the Ferrad readings on the caps if you want to be a big nerd. Those would be your power reserves for any big dynamic peaks. The reason is that caps can only be a reserve. The transformer will tell you the the sustainable power.

V=IR V= Volts, I= Amps, R= Resistance

Or V/R= I and Watts is V*A or so I think. I'm a couple bottles of wine down and I don't want to find my circuits book right now. Hold on, asking the rock nerd wife... Ah crap, everyone's toasted and now her co-worker is actually looking it up. Nevermind, he just got more beer. We are giving up tonight.


Edit: drunk

Sounds like quite the party going on :)

[aaharvel]

Sounds like quite the party going on :)

yeah I don't know that much about it- but considering the 8ohmers i'm going to be driving this Sig. with, like i said it's probably overkill anyway. At least from judging from this amps specs, this thing could probably support 5 lsi monitors with no problem.