MTT

iTrader: (17)

I did a search on here for testing the output of an amplifier...but it was dated back to 2003.....is there anyone on here or does anyone know of anywhere in ontario that i get a couple amps tested for output???....any help would be greatly appreciated.

df.dima

iTrader: (12)

What do you want to get tested?

MTT

iTrader: (17)

a few amps i have kicking around that I'd like to know for sure put out what they say, and if not then know what they actually do put out....for example...i have a PG xenon 600.1...says it does 800 or so at 4ohms...great...and i have an Xtant 1001 that says it does 500 at 4ohm but the Xtant is definitely louder, so if i tested the two id know which rating was bs or im just on glue and shouldnt question things and just go with what sounds best.....the Xenon sounded great until i put the Xtant in.....so like 4 or 5 examples of that....wife says i need to get rid of stuff so I was just kinda wonderin.....i just get bored and need to know these things

Tom.F.1

iTrader: (1)

I've tested amplifiers before. Back In my audio class in college, we had power supplies, test generators and Big *** 8 ohm 100 watt resistors.

To test a 400 watt amp, I used 4, 8 ohm resistors, 2 in parallel twice in series for a final 8 ohm load. We had an occillicope to look at the waveform and measure the voltage. This was an experiment to prove the formulas works.
The bryston 4B did almost 400 watts before clipping. We could only test 1 ch at a time, but that was ok, the bryson has different power supplies for each channel. But the restistors got so hot you could start a fire.
There were other people in the class who brought in car amps to test, but they were cheap and never performed up to spec. Back then (1980), all car amps were garbage.

To do a real test, you'd need to invest in a lot of test equipment.

The way most people test is with a test CD in your head unit, pick the track that has the right frequency range and play it at a given volume, measure the voltage in and out of the amp that is hooked up to subs or speakers.

Then, swap out the amp, use exactly the same setup, same levels and measure again.

What most people are surprized about, when you use an osciliscope, is that you can see clipping distortion starts long before you can hear it. And thats what distroys speakers. I remember testing Cassette players, they look like so much garbage on a scope, i'm surprized they even tried to use them for music.

P.S. I just looked up a 4 ohm 1000W resistor at electrosonic. 160.00 each, plus they need a heat sink.

MTT

iTrader: (17)

So kinda the same method as setting your gains with a DMM then?.....I use a test disk for this, so i hook one up and set the gains where i like them, then test the output voltage using a specific test tone, then put the other amp on and set the gains with the same test tone then test voltage on second amp that'll be my answer?

df.dima

iTrader: (12)

Here's a good read:
How to determine amplifier output - TeamSSAudio:

MTT

iTrader: (17)

you're right, good read, thank you

df.dima

iTrader: (12)

Here's another good read about Xenon amps and their output

Phoenix Gold Phorum // View topic - rsd500.4 or x200.4