2. amps-preamps
  3. 1284839589

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
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
Ag insider logo xs@2x
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
gtortorella OP
17 posts
 
I thank all for the responses. My preamp is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday. I cannot listen to the big B&K until the preamp is delivered (I have no other preamp). I put quite a bit of thought into the changes I have made in my system, and I am thinking it should be my best yet...

Unison Research Unico CDP-->Canary Audio CA-200-->B&K Reference 200.2-->Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1

I also have a pair of Opera Mezza loudspeakers. Comparing them to the Sierra-1s should be interesting. I have two sets of interconnects: Enigma Audio Apex and the Anti-ICs (by Paul Speltz). My speaker cable is also by Enigma Audio.
More to discover