My own observations with speakers I’ve owned is that I didn’t much care for amps that boasted very high damping factors- ie, 400 or more. Over 100 is plenty, I found
Something that almost all discussions of damping factor overlook: the DC resistance of the voice coil is in series with the output impedance of the amp. This is typically about 60% of the nominal impedance of the speaker, of 5 ohms for an 8 ohm speaker. Given that 5 ohms is always present, it matters very little what the output impedance of the amp is unless it adds materially to that 5 ohm baseline. There is almost no difference in actual damping between and amp with 1/2 ohm of output impedance and an amp with 0.008 ohms of output impedance, even though the damping factor is 16 for one amp, and 1000 for the other. 😢
All these flavors of signal manipulation are simply so many forms of Gross distortions that muck up what is possible with ultimate level realism in audio reproduction. It's scary so many believe that monkeying with the signal is somehow Good for the end result. Distortions are Audible and Measurable if you have the thought to look past all the JOKER LEVEL MEASUREMENTS that are fed to the masses. Discernment matters or you simply become the victim you deserve to be of all the excuses made for inferior results
Thank you for your comment, David. I am curious about some of the points you have raised. First… I would be interested in hearing about the “ultimate level realism in audio reproduction” that you are speaking of. What were you listening to? Second… What “monkeying around” are you referring to? Third… it is very likely that we feel the same way about JOKER LEVEL MEASUREMENTS as you do. Clearly at some point in your audio journey you have recognized that “marketing specs” are at best vague, or at worst misleading.
Great post, thank you! Really clear explanation of the topic
My own observations with speakers I’ve owned is that I didn’t much care for amps that boasted very high damping factors- ie, 400 or more. Over 100 is plenty, I found
Great video!!!! Very educational!!!
Thanks! Educational is what we're going for.
Nice one, George..!
Thank you, sir!
When I go to a live performance of an orchestra , the first thing I listen to is the damping factor, the soundstage and the signal to noise ratio....
Something that almost all discussions of damping factor overlook: the DC resistance of the voice coil is in series with the output impedance of the amp. This is typically about 60% of the nominal impedance of the speaker, of 5 ohms for an 8 ohm speaker. Given that 5 ohms is always present, it matters very little what the output impedance of the amp is unless it adds materially to that 5 ohm baseline. There is almost no difference in actual damping between and amp with 1/2 ohm of output impedance and an amp with 0.008 ohms of output impedance, even though the damping factor is 16 for one amp, and 1000 for the other. 😢
All these flavors of signal manipulation are simply so many forms of Gross distortions that muck up what is possible with ultimate level realism in audio reproduction. It's scary so many believe that monkeying with the signal is somehow Good for the end result. Distortions are Audible and Measurable if you have the thought to look past all the JOKER LEVEL MEASUREMENTS that are fed to the masses. Discernment matters or you simply become the victim you deserve to be of all the excuses made for inferior results
Thank you for your comment, David. I am curious about some of the points you have raised.
First… I would be interested in hearing about the “ultimate level realism in audio reproduction” that you are speaking of. What were you listening to?
Second… What “monkeying around” are you referring to?
Third… it is very likely that we feel the same way about JOKER LEVEL MEASUREMENTS as you do. Clearly at some point in your audio journey you have recognized that “marketing specs” are at best vague, or at worst misleading.