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How Important is Dynamic Headroom?

I recently bought a B&K Reference 200.2. I liked how it sounded at the store, and, in regard to specs, I was impressed with its high damping factor (450). Also, it has 225 wpc into 8 ohms (375 wpc into 4 ohms). Hence, everything seemed fine.

I read the owner's manual, and it lists the unit's dynamic headroom as 1.2 db. I did a brief search of other similarly priced units, and 1.2 db would seem to be about average (or perhaps on the low side?). Anyway, how significant is this?

Thanks.
gtortorella
gtortorella OP
17 posts
 
Interesting...I have been an audiophile for a long time, and so I understand your analogies. The amp has four of the biggest capacitors I have ever seen ("beer can" types or perhaps a tad larger). Anyway, I cannot fathom this being the type of amp that would run out of steam during transients. We will soon see. I am waiting for my new preamp to arrive.

Thanks.
willland's avatar
willland
846 posts
 
Your B&K 200.2 is a pretty potent(and musical)amp. While specs may be a deciding factor when all other things are equal, they don't tell you how musical an amp is. Only your ears can do that. Just sit back and enjoy that movie or music tonight.
pep21
59 posts
 
One comparision may be the term "bloom" you read so much about in the press nowdays.
I think it is something to consider when shopping for amplifiers.
IMHO, headroom is very important in good sounding audio equipment.
danielk141
489 posts
 
Depends on your speakers.
True "Class A" amps like my Pass Aleph 2s have no headroom, by definition.
That is Class A.
These amps are 160 watts Class A, into 4 ohms, and I've never clipped any speaker I used them with.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
See this thread. The bottom line: Dynamic headroom is a spec that is inconsistently defined and misleading. I would therefore suggest ignoring it.

Also, re your mention of damping factor, extremely high damping factors are meaningless, because the damping factor as seen from the woofer's perspective will be limited by the resistance of the speaker cables and the crossover inductor. And most or all speakers don't need extremely high damping factors anyway. See this thread.

Best regards,
-- Al
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