Kirkus, you are right in most of your posts and apparently either did not read something somewhere in mine or misinterpreted it. First, I'm not talking about clipping here- at all. I am well aware of the significance of the woofer in the box! The very point of a woofer in the box is that there is a resonance. Voltage paradigm amplifiers ('voltage source' amps) will throttle back their power as they encounter the resonant peak of the box, and so not exacerbate that resonance. That is the basis of the theory of the idea of making an amp that is a 'voltage source'.
Maybe you missed the link, so here it is again:
http://www.atma-sphere.com/papers/paradigm_paper2.html
Before the Voltage paradigm was proposed (MacIntosh and EV were two proponents in the 50s and 60s) the Power paradigm was the only game in town. I have had to create the terms 'Voltage Paradigm' and 'Power Paradigm' simply because the industry is mum on this subject in general- its inconvenient.
Yet the web audio forums are full of people that are constantly harping about aspects the the conflict between these two paradigms- tubes vs transistors is one of those debates that seems to arise from this conflict. But if you think my posts are *about* tubes vs transistors you have missed the point entirely!
The Voltage Paradigm uses a sort of short hand nomenclature that leads to confusion and I think this is happening for you in this case. Of course all amplifiers are power amplifiers, what the Voltage Paradigm seeks to do is call an amplifier a 'voltage source' when it refers to an amplifier that makes constant voltage into any load (i.e. doubles its power as the load impedance is cut in half). Amplifiers that have a high output impedance and make (or attempt to make) constant power are termed 'current source' amplifiers.
What is important to note here is the word paradigm. If you are operating solely within a paradigm, anything outside that paradigm can be construed as blasphemy.
The Power Paradigm amplifier is a 'power source', i.e. it will make constant power into any load. That is the voltage and current will both vary. I don't know of an amp that does this but that is the ideal, just as there are no true 'constant voltage' amplifiers out there either- that is the ideal. Does this clarify things?
Maybe you missed the link, so here it is again:
http://www.atma-sphere.com/papers/paradigm_paper2.html
Before the Voltage paradigm was proposed (MacIntosh and EV were two proponents in the 50s and 60s) the Power paradigm was the only game in town. I have had to create the terms 'Voltage Paradigm' and 'Power Paradigm' simply because the industry is mum on this subject in general- its inconvenient.
Yet the web audio forums are full of people that are constantly harping about aspects the the conflict between these two paradigms- tubes vs transistors is one of those debates that seems to arise from this conflict. But if you think my posts are *about* tubes vs transistors you have missed the point entirely!
The Voltage Paradigm uses a sort of short hand nomenclature that leads to confusion and I think this is happening for you in this case. Of course all amplifiers are power amplifiers, what the Voltage Paradigm seeks to do is call an amplifier a 'voltage source' when it refers to an amplifier that makes constant voltage into any load (i.e. doubles its power as the load impedance is cut in half). Amplifiers that have a high output impedance and make (or attempt to make) constant power are termed 'current source' amplifiers.
What is important to note here is the word paradigm. If you are operating solely within a paradigm, anything outside that paradigm can be construed as blasphemy.
The Power Paradigm amplifier is a 'power source', i.e. it will make constant power into any load. That is the voltage and current will both vary. I don't know of an amp that does this but that is the ideal, just as there are no true 'constant voltage' amplifiers out there either- that is the ideal. Does this clarify things?