QW4F over QW218 and Crown amps...

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Marty McCann
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Re: QW4F over QW218 and Crown amps...

Post by Marty McCann » Mon Jun 02, 2014 2:41 pm

Yes matching the amplifier gains does make it easier. In the past a real problem for the uninitiated is the fact than many amplifiers are sensitive to 0.775 (or 1.2) Volts, no matter what the power output in Watts. This was never "good science" as I understand. And for very simple full range systems, it is not an issue.

For years people that did not understand the principle could mistakenly believe that a 400 Watt amp that was sensitive to 0.775 Volts actually sounded beter than the competitors 400 Watt amp that had a 1.4 Volt sensitivity, as with both amplifiers level controls wide open the 0.775 Volt sensitive amplifier was louder by about 6 dB. And of course some sales people that knew better, used this to convince the muso that the more sensitive amp was better.

However when you enter the pro audio world will you may Bi, Tri, or even Quad-amp a system, the voltage gain differences really made it difficult for the non-engineer. And an additional confusiing factor was that it is also necessary to calibrate the gains of the system (via the X-Over) to match the 1 Watt @ 1 Meter sensitivity of the loudspeaker transducers.

I spent 40 years in the industry, I learned an awful lot, expecially the fact that I always had more to learn.

With the DSP technology available to us today, we have the capability to calibrate sound systems to a degree of precision NEVER possible before. However this can only be done by making final "In Situ" measurements performed on a Dual FFT capable computer program. This can not be accomplished using some single port 1/3 octave RTA on a cell phone.

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