These waveforms, since they’re off much of the time, keep energy use low and greatly reduce the power wasted. Class D car amps use switching technology – much like used in modern power supplies – to change a music signal into on/off waveforms. Class Dĭiagram showing a class D amplifier’s operation. In recent years an exciting new amp design has become very popular thanks to its biggest advantages: class D. Most can give you pretty good sound but it greatly depends on the design and parts quality. That’s one reason the most inexpensive car amps often use class A/B unless specified otherwise. Most car amps based on it have around 65%, with the remaining wasted as heat.Īnother benefit is that it’s an old technology and costs less to produce.

Class B: Moderate distortion & sound quality, good efficiencyĬlass A is the best possible sound quality reproduction while being the least efficient (somewhere around 20% efficient, meaning 80% of electrical current is wasted as heat) and with B being the opposite.Ĭlass A/B amps were developed to provide good sound while keeping efficiency fairly good.

Class A: Lowest distortion, highest sound fidelity, but lowest efficiency.

Here’s a short comparison of the differences: Class A/BĬlass A/B amplifiers use a design that’s been around for many decades all the way back to the 1960s, in fact! A/B amps use a combination of class “A” and class “B” amplification principles.

No one class is “better” than another, although what you might consider better really depends a lot on your needs and preferences as you’ll see. These 2 amp designs both have pros and cons as I’ll show you later.īeginning many years ago, these different audio amplifier technologies are categorized in classes. Today’s car amplifiers, in nearly all cases, use 1 of 2 basic designs (or a combination of both). A switch mode power supply (SMPS) is used to create higher voltages from the +12V supply connected. Image of the power supply section of a common A/B class car amplifier. Read on to learn more about the different amplifier technologies. In most designs an internal low-pass crossover, although adjustable, cannot be bypassed.Īlso, unlike 2 or 4 channel car amplifiers, 5 channel amps may contain a mixture of amp technologies.įor example, while some may use class A/B for the 4 main channels, class D is often used for the 5th channel for efficiency and reduced heat. Availability: We tested only speakers that people can buy directly through online and/or brick-and-mortar stores, rather than models available exclusively through custom installation companies.Most cannot produce full-range sound on the 5th (mono) channel as it’s intended for a bass subwoofer only.Styling: Although you can find outdoor speakers shaped like rocks or concealed in outdoor lighting, we focused our search on conventional speaker designs.While we have tested more expensive models, we’ve found only one or two that offered a significant step up in sound quality to justify the higher price. Cost: We set a price ceiling of $350 per pair for these speakers.They all include mounting brackets, and they’re usually available in black or white. Configuration: These speakers are usually sold in pairs and are designed to be attached vertically or horizontally to a wall, fence, tree, etc.

Weather and impact resistance: All of the speakers we considered use plastic enclosures, metal grilles, and drivers that are designed to withstand minor impacts (such as a poorly thrown football), rain, or the occasional accidental spray from the hose.

5 channel amplifier