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Oscilloscopes - what specs to look for?

Hi,

I'm gonna get me an oscilloscope. I'm going to use it to mainly fiddle with home audio equipment, like hifi amps, and perhaps try to fix this and that other electrical appliance. 

What should I make sure I've got covered?

Some say 50Mhz is good, others 100Mhz. I've also realized memory depth is important, but what is enough? I see oscilloscopes can easily top the overall price of my hifi system if I'd really want to. 
128x128eyrepm
erik_squires
16,009 posts
 
20 MHz is overkill for audio gear, unless you are going to start poking around in digital devices like a streamer or DAC.

You might want to look into some PC based solutions.  There's a number of capabilities the old school style oscilloscope may not have built in, which are useful:

  • Spectral analysis
  • Signal to Noise
  • THD
  • IM
  • Jitter

Best,

E
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,880 posts
 
my mentors Richard Vandersteen and Roger Modjeski ( rip ) both thought the Tektronix TDS-220 up to the task - i agree


millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
What should I make sure I've got covered?

How about, to make sure you know what do you really need an oscilloscope for in the first place?

I mean, its not like you're just gonna be randomly messing around .. oh wait, what's this?
I'm going to use it to mainly fiddle

Okay well then maybe look for one with a fancy pretty screen and lots of cool knobs?
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