What does Current mean in a power amp???

Perhaps "pissing contest" was a little harsh? :-)
The posts are interesting, though.

~~~~How does one technically piss a thread? Not that I would ever consider it, though I have had threads pissed on, technically speaking. How would one be determined the winner? What would be awarded, medals, trophies, or a review in T.T.P. Magazine?

Jest The Facts

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My point was that Ohm's law ( used in a generic manner ) is applicable at very specific points. Obviously, one can measure and calculate what is taking place electrically at any given point in the operating curve and break it down mathematically. However, the measurements at any given point may have nothing to do with what is taking place elsewhere within the parameters of operation. This is what makes a loudspeaker a "complex" load. Even if one were to try to break the speaker / amplifier interface down using Thevenin's theory, which is far more complex, those parameters would still vary somewhat with frequency and amplitude.

With the above outlook taken into consideration, the amplifier / speaker interface is one of a dynamic nature that changes with amplitude, frequency and impedance. One can't model a "simplistic" speaker / amplifier interface based on just a few measurements that would otherwise work fine in a circuit with set parameters and limited variables. As such, trying to break the entire amp / speaker interface down to something as simplistic as Ohm's Law would be next to impossible unless the speaker maintained a constant impedance across the entire frequency spectrum at any given amplitude and the amplifier acted as a true "voltage source". Does anyone know of such a speaker ?

The parallels that one can draw using a resistor as a load and that of an actual speaker are far and few between. For each "benign" speaker load that you show me, i can show ten that are not quite so simplistic. As such, how an individual amplifier and the corresponding circuitry will respond to each load that it sees with varied frequency and amplitude becomes completely unpredictable. Hell, some amps even change frequency response aka "tonal balance" as the drive level increases on a dummy load ( non-reactive "perfect" speaker ) on the bench. Who could predict how such an amp would respond with the variables encountered with different speakers and their associated reactances during real world operation??? If you think i'm making this up, John Atkinson noted this in a recent review of a Rotel amplifer in Stereophile and Moncrieff had covered this 20+ years ago in IAR.

While some of the variables can be minimized by having a true "voltage source" as an amplifier and a speaker that was linear in impedance, this still does not take into account how this combo would actually "sound". As i've tried to stress, there are just TOO many variables to try and sum things up "simply". While many folks don't have the technical background to know why such things take place, they have enough experience to know that you will never know exactly how various components will mesh until you try them out within the confines of your system. We can call it system synergy, complimentary colourations, etc... but it still boils down to the fact that there is NO set formula other than the old "trial & error" method that most of us have had to do to get where we are today. If things could be summed up easily using a simple formula, i think that there would be no need for forums such as this. Sean
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PS... I'm not trying to be argumentative or step on toes, so please don't take it that way. I'm simply trying to say that you don't know what to expect until you try it. I've been "confounded" way too many times before to know that things that should work sometimes don't and vice-versa.

There's one other factor with an amplifier that envolves its feedback circuit. This also affects how the amplifier "sees" its attached load. Some manufactures install small coils of wire (almost like a choke) on the output to prevent the amp from ringing into loads it doesn't like.
As Sean said, this is much to complicated an issue to be summed up in a simplistic Ohms Law formula that was designed for DC circuits. You can't even apply it to the resistance in a piece of straight wire. Once you apply AC to it, the wire can react rather strange(depending on its composition)
They use to use actual current limiting circuits to keep the amp from overheating.
My best advice is to decide what type of speakers you are going to use an experiment around until you find a good amp to match. Way too many variables to say an amp is right based on specs. Amps that "Really" double down are a good place to start. Some of the best sounding amps---well you're not going to worry about current(eg. the Pass Labs Aleph 3)One heck of a good sounding amp at 30/ch into 8 ohms and about 45 into 4. It drove a lot of speakers well as long as you didn't want to rock a hall!

Rwd - Seandtaylor99 has it right, the first question you should be dealing with, and the one that is not answered here - because you have not supplied us with the info to do so - is: Why am I being told I "need" a "high-current" amplifier in the first place? What are your speakers (and room size, and listening tastes and volumes), and what is your present amp? Who told you that you will need a different amp, and why? Do *you* hear a problem? Can you listen the way *you* want to happily? If not, why not?

You shouldn't be thinking about "numbers to look for". This will only lead to the kind of confusion you see above (not that the many worthwhile attempts to explain the whys and wherefores of the "current question" aren't valuable or interesting, or appreciated), and will not necessarily help you to choose a new amp you will be happy with, should that prove advisable. You should be thinking about sound results, and maybe also the agenda or qualifications of your advisor. The most important thing to realize, if you are indeed unsatisfied with the sound you're getting right now, is that nothing anyone tells you, either here or anyplace else, if going to be a proper substitute for listening to some options and deciding what you like for yourself.

If you want some applicable perspective on your situation, please respond with specific answers to the background questions, so we can actually assess and address *your* audio needs, desires, and questions in a more pertinent fashion. The ability of any amp to output "high" current into a given load if called upon to do so is probably always a 'good thing' if looked at in a vacuum, but audio design always involves trade-offs (especially as cost, preference, and system-matching are concerned), and that attribute in and of itself will never alone dictate which amp you'd be most pleased with for your system, tastes, and budget.

[P.S. - BTW, Sdcampbell, I have always been led to believe that the correct 'water' analogy - as far as it goes - is that voltage represents 'electrical (water) pressure' and amps of current the 'rate of flow'. Your description strikes me as the reverse of this. Care to comment?]