Switching amplifier... Much current needed?

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Genez

Switching amplifier... Much current needed?
« on: 22 Jun 2015, 01:31 am »
I am still scratching my head over this one...

I have in my system a Furman power conditioner.  It has two displays. One for reading the line voltage level. The other to show how much amperage is being drawn by the equipment. 

When I use my Nuforce STA-100.. And, even when I tried a Nuprime ST-10..   I noticed hardly any amperage change above the idle setting.  I had checked with Furman and they told me that the unit tested fine after I tried an appliance to see what it was drawing.  They could not figure it out what was going on.

I figure its safe to assume that I do not need a bulky high current audiophile power cables when using this type of amp?  That using an audiophile (well shielded) power cord that is designed for what is normally used with source components, should be just fine? 





RDavidson

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Re: Switching amplifier... Much current needed?
« Reply #1 on: 22 Jun 2015, 04:34 am »
That's the great thing about Class D. They are the most efficient amplifier type. They barely consume any power when just sitting powered on, but idle ; Maybe just a watt or two. I believe NuPrime amps are something like 90%+ efficient. This means virtually all power drawn from the wall (while playing program material) is being used to power your speakers, and very little is wasted (ie turned to heat). So, if you checked the voltage on your Furman while the amp was just sitting there powered on idling, it wouldn't so much as register the tiniest blip.

From Wikipedia:

Theoretical power efficiency of class-D amplifiers is 100%. That is to say, all of the power supplied to it is delivered to the load, none is turned to heat. This is because an ideal switch in its on state would conduct all the current but have no voltage loss across it, hence no heat would be dissipated. And when it is off, it would have the full supply voltage across it but no leak current flowing through it, and again no heat would be dissipated. Real-world power MOSFETs are not ideal switches, but practical efficiencies well over 90% are common. By contrast, linear AB-class amplifiers are always operated with both current flowing through and voltage standing across the power devices. An ideal class-B amplifier has a theoretical maximum efficiency of 78%. Class A amplifiers (purely linear, with the devices always "on") have a theoretical maximum efficiency of 50% and some versions have efficiencies below 20%.
« Last Edit: 22 Jun 2015, 06:55 pm by RDavidson »

G Georgopoulos

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Re: Switching amplifier... Much current needed?
« Reply #2 on: 22 Jun 2015, 05:19 am »
An ideal class-B amplifier has a theoretical maximum efficiency of 78%.

not to mention the higher linearity and dynamics (watt to watt) than class-d... :thumb:

Genez

Re: Switching amplifier... Much current needed?
« Reply #3 on: 22 Jun 2015, 06:11 am »
Another oddity I noticed..  The amp can feel a bit warm to touch after been idling all day.  But,  after playing some audio for a while?  The amp actually feels cooler!

G Georgopoulos

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Re: Switching amplifier... Much current needed?
« Reply #4 on: 22 Jun 2015, 06:26 am »
Another oddity I noticed..  The amp can feel a bit warm to touch after been idling all day.  But,  after playing some audio for a while?  The amp actually feels cooler!

true remarkably, when the pwm is switching the switching transistors at a fix frequency at idle
the transistors have a fixed delay on off all the time that's why they get hot,when the pwm
is driven with an audio signal there is low - high switching frequancies with low switching
frequancies the delay on-off is less so the transistors cool down abit, i'm not an expert on
class-d just guessing

kind regards   :green:

guys i'm wrong...pwm operates at a fixed frequency.... :green:

on/off switching time does dissipate heat,how this works i leave it to you to figure it out?
« Last Edit: 22 Jun 2015, 07:54 am by G Georgopoulos »

rustydoglim

Re: Switching amplifier... Much current needed?
« Reply #5 on: 22 Jun 2015, 12:58 pm »
By the way, this info has been repeated many times on our literature and I will bring up again. The newer class of NuPrime amps run at nearly twice the switching frequency of other class-D amps and that explained the better resolution and smoothness of sound quality, in addition to efficiency.
The amp's fundamental architecture hasn't change in that it relies on the audio signal to trigger the self oscillating circuit to generate the PWM. So it is likely that the amp is running at lower switching frequency when it is first powered up without any audio. The heatsink is conducted to the top cover for further heat dissipation through the entire chassis so even if it feels warm, it is better than through air vent.

Genez

Re: Switching amplifier... Much current needed?
« Reply #6 on: 22 Jun 2015, 06:37 pm »
Does the ST-10 implement the same type of thermal padding against the top cover as the STA-100?

rustydoglim

Re: Switching amplifier... Much current needed?
« Reply #7 on: 23 Jun 2015, 04:00 am »
Yes, they all use the same heat conducting silicone pad.