Planar Speaker Asylum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Planar Speaker Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

For damping.

Posted by Al Sekela (A) on April 16, 2007 at 16:49:44

In Reply to: fuse for 1.6 is 4 amps.... why do I need a high current amp ? posted by Listener26 on April 16, 2007 at 11:44:12:

You would need an amp capable of delivering 8100 watts to generate 45 amperes in a four-ohm resistive load. No one makes or uses such amps in home audio systems. However, many speakers, and Magnepans in particular, work better if the amps driving them have low output impedances. One way of expressing that an amp has a low output impedance is to describe the current the amp can deliver or absorb instantaneously.

This is because the speaker can act as a generator of current when something causes the driver element to move. Usually the something is reflected sound within the listening room, or the inertia of the cone in a big woofer. I believe Magnepans also have internal resonances that can generate currents.

These currents cause braking forces within the drivers (which damp the motions in the same way shock absorbers damp the motions of automobile wheels), but only if the amp allows them to flow freely. Amps that have high instantaneous output impedances are unable to absorb the braking currents without causing signal distortion.

There is not a guaranteed relationship between "high current" and the low output impedance that makes the speaker sound good, because a lot depends on the details of the feedback loops used inside the amps, but there is a general trend.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Kimber Kable

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---