ARC DS220/450 Distortion Levels


There is very little in the way of bench testing of these "hybrid" Class D amps. I find the ARC pedigree always appealing. These things double down their output when presented with lower speaker impedances. But I seem to remember seeing one (and only one) bench test that implied that measured distortion once you get down around 2 ohms increases dramatically up to 3% or so which I would think would be umm, not so good a thing. I would be using the amp (probably the 450) to drive Thiel 2.4s which for a wide portion of their frequency output present a load of around 2ohms, sometimes dipping below that. Thoughts?
pwhinson
Not an issue with the DS450. I use one to drive my Revel Salon 2s, which are fairly inefficient and power hungry, without a hitch.

Mike
By bench test do you mean a test performed by a magazine? Audio Research has a much better facility than any magazine could ever dream of having and more intelligent people performing the tests. Why not contact Audio Research?
Also, your Thiel 2.4s have a minimum impedance of 3ohms not 2ohms and below.
If it's in the bottom frequencies domain, it's nothing to worry, In the midrange it may be audible. Check your speaker frequency/impedance map.