highest damping factor amp


Looking for a small solid state with a high damping factor to control my 15inch woofers in a biamp system.
jls3

Showing 3 responses by carl_eber

You'd have to check all the specs, perhaps directly from the manufacturer. A few of the "Audio" buyer's guides have published damping factor, but sometimes it's hard to find. In my experience, amps that use bipolar output transistors must use a whole lot of them to achieve a better damping factor. Wheras, with MOSFETS, it's easy to achieve high damping, even with a lower current amplifier design. I decided the sound of mine, with its specialized Motorola bipolars, was the best amp I could get for the money...even though its damping factor is only around 50. Anyway, with a biamped setup, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding what you're looking for, and making it work.
And also, the amp with the highest damping factor I've heard of is the Crown Macro Reference, at about 20,000. I've heard that the Wolcott tube amps supposedly have an "infinitely" high damping factor, but I don't believe it. Physics doesn't allow for anything humans have done to be infinite...just a reality check.