I'm not sure if this means anything,a hk 3475 at rated 110 watts power comsumption is 332 watts. the hk 3480 stereo receiver at 120 watts at rated power,power consumption 288 watts. I was told by hk that the 3480 is more efficent.would like some input from the circle.Thanks dennis
"More efficient" can mean an awful lot of things, Dennis. As in more cost efficient, meaning a skimpier power transformer, which also happens to be cheaper.
Essentially, several factors determine efficiency and power consumption. In no particular order:
1. Size of power transformer;
2. Quality of the transformer itself;
3. Type and size of power supply electronics;
4. Type and operating mode of the amp power stage;
5. Overall construction of the amplifier stage,
etc.
In terms of a mass produced products such as H/K's receivers, newer series are less biased into class A than the older series, and have smaller power transformers than the old series. As an admirer of H/K of old, I'm sorry to have to say that, but that's what I see, year in, year out. This tends to pushe them into class B more and more, and class B is indeed more effcient than class AB, however it is also worse sounding in say 98+% of all cases.
I also see a diminishing of their power stage capacities. They used to have really well dimensioned output stages, done the way it should be done, but I guess that doesn't pay any more, so they started squeezing more and more power from less and less output devices. This tends to reduce overall power consumption because the overall energy transfer to the speakers decreases.
On the other hand, using better and more efficient (or with less loss) transformers can also decrease overall power consumption. But since this would imply greater cost, I doubt this is the case and hope I am wrong about this.
Cheers,
DVV
