Fine article about 'damping factor' in your amplifier

TheChairGuy · « **on:** 27 Jan 2006, 05:01 pm »

I found this article particularly interesting.

To those of you who have vast technical and/or engineering background, it's probably lightweight stuff. But, it was great info for me as I am finally up to tackling the immense issue of amplifier upgrading right now.

It's not too geeky - something for near every audio enthusiast within:

http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/mdampingfactor.html

warnerwh · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 Jan 2006, 06:09 am »

Damping factor is certainly an over discussed spec. The reality is that any good SS amp will have more than low enough output impedance to have an excellent damping factor. Whether to make a purchasing decision with regards to this spec is a waste of time imo. Tube amps obviously can vary in this regard but usually have loose bass. I think it's simple as that.

TomS · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 Jan 2006, 03:05 pm »

Merlin actually recommends amps with lower damping factors because of the high damping characteristics of that particular speaker. More often than not that's due to less overall feedback in the amplifiers, which can result in higher output impedance and lower damping factors. These amplifiers with minimal feedback quite often sound better as well.

The story is that the amp, cables, and speaker have to work well together as a system.