Here's my 2 cents. I've had amps and avrs with damping factor specs from 50 to over 1100. I can't say it's been a game changer for me or a crucial spec. More and more I just want good synergy with the particular speakers I'm working with, and the best way to hear if an amp controls your speakers well is to hook it up, or audition it somehow.
That said, if an amp manufacturer is paying attention to the damping factor performance of their products, they are probably really anal about how their products sound, and that is a good thing. |
That’s a good question. On the surface it looks like it should be very important. The higher the DF the better the sounds would be a reasonable assumption.
Who wouldn’t want better control of the bass drivers? Wouldn’t that yield tight and accurate bass? While I’ve never purchased an amp based on dampening factor, I do have a couple Rotel amps which are listed as being 1000. Adcom is another brand that list high on the DF scale.
That being said, there are lots of very good amplifiers that have DF in the 100-200 range so maybe it’s a situation where anything over 100 is overkill? |
Hegel H300 has a DF of 1,000. The new H360 is a DF of 4,000, Hegel advertises this hard in their literature and discussions, seems very important to them and I do love their top integrated units. |
Listen to it.....don't even look at specs
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From a post by Atmasphere in this thread on damping factor: There is no speaker made that requires more than 20:1 for a damping factor, and there are speakers that prefer a damping factor of 1:10 (usually high efficiency full-range speakers). From a post by me in that thread: Damping factor and amplifier output impedance are inversely related. Damping factor, as usually defined based on an assumed 8 ohm speaker load, equals output impedance divided into 8 ohms. To the extent that the speaker’s impedance varies with frequency, that output impedance will affect tonal balance, by interacting with the speaker’s impedance vs. frequency variation.
Many electrostatic speakers, for instance, have high impedances at low frequencies, which descend to low values at high frequencies. A solid state amp, having a high damping factor and negligibly small output impedance, will produce LESS bass and MORE treble into that kind of speaker, relative to a tube amp. The tube amp, having a relatively low damping factor/high output impedance, will produce MORE bass and LESS treble into that kind of speaker.
Conversely, many dynamic (cone-type) speakers have low impedances in the bass and mid-bass regions, and higher impedances in the upper mid-range and treble. Driving that kind of load, a solid state amp will provide a stronger bass response than a tube amp, and the tube amp may sound excessively bright.
As was stated, synergy with the particular speaker is key. From a post by Kijanki in this thread on damping factor: Inductor in-series with the woofer has resistance approx. 0.08 ohm limiting DF to 100. Adding to the above: Per Atmasphere’s comment, once damping factor gets significantly above 20 or so, further increases will make little if any difference. Although if one amplifier has a damping factor of 50 and another has a damping factor of 2000, it is almost certainly an indication that there are other major differences in the designs of the two amplifiers that will cause them to sound different. Also, once damping factor gets significantly below 20 or so, which is characteristic of most tube amps, and if speaker impedance varies significantly as a function of frequency, differences in damping factor within that range may significantly affect tonality, due to differences in impedance interactions. And, likewise, damping factor differences between those amplifiers and solid state amplifiers having higher damping factors will also result in differences in tonality, to a greater or lesser degree depending on how the impedance of the speaker varies as a function of frequency. As I said above, synergy with the particular speaker is key. Regards, -- Al |
