Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions hk 3480 modification: science or wishful hearing?

>>With regard to cone control and precision of movement, I am curious how RickSean confirmed that a higher power amp provides an improvement in this area.

I think this is the damping factor argument. Big-ass amplifiers tend to have lower effective resistance in the output stages, which IIRC should result in slightly tighter control of the cone movement. Same idea as braking in a full hybrid car, where placing a heavy load (battery charger) on the motor/generator makes it act as a brake.

Either Alan or Ian mentioned that the damping factor argument had been debunked recently although I didn't have time to get the details. Debunked or not, my understanding is that there is a point of diminishing returns, so that the audible difference between a "pretty good" amplifier and a "really good big-ass amp" is negligible.

A not-so-good amp with high output impedence (low damping factor) could presumably result in looser bass, in the same way as having speaker wires which are MUCH too thin could introduce enough resistance to affect the sound.

Just a note to Randy from another thread -- the "Big-ass Amplifier Club" is for people with high power, high quality amplifiers. The "Big Ass Amplifier Club" is something which you may want to avoid.