Running amp lower than recommended (Not the same Ole question)

[rambronco]

Ok, so I know this question gets asked all the time but this is a little different, not the usual "should I or shouldn't I". I've been in this game a very long time and feel that I should actually know the answer to this, but I don't so here we are. Just for sake of this post I'll use a 5k watt amp as our piece in question. If that amp is rated to do 5k at 1ohm and is only stable to 1ohm by the manufacture is it any harder on the amp to do 5k watts at 1/2ohm? Trying to get an answer that doesn't use any variables other than final impedance of the amp.

My gut instinct is that there is no difference until pushing the amp to make more power. I realize that there are changes needed as far as electrical current demand goes I.E. lower A/C voltage but higher Current draw with a lower impedance and vice versa for higher impedence but just not sure if that equates to more stress on the amp.

 

Thanks

RB

[slowfkncar]

 

It "can" be harder on an amplifier to make the same amount of power at a lower load, it would depend on the amplifiers capability to pass that amount of current through the power supply.

To put it simple, any heat created is lost power and more current (less impedance) is what usually brings the heat with unregulated korean amps. 

 

 

[WalledSonic]

Yes it creates more heat since it flows more current, but if you set the gain lower than you normally would, then the current thru the amp at 1/2 ohm COULD be lower than it would play at 1 ohm

For instance, my amp clips at 70Vac and is wired to 1/3 ohm.  If I wired to 1/6 ohm and set the amp to 35V, then it should produce a roughly equivalent power output, so the amp wouldnt see more stress.  

In the end, a lower impedance typically draws more current, which will drop voltage quickly.  This is why you need a lot of reserve power at low impedance.

[rambronco]

On 2/21/2018 at 1:27 PM, slowfkncar said:

it would depend on the amplifiers capability to pass that amount of current through the power supply

And that is why I come to you guys with my questions. As soon as I read that it was like a forehead slap moment lol. Thanks to all who replied.

RB

[Ron36]

OHM’s law , less resistance equals more current. .5 way harder on electrical 

[shizzzon]

5000w is 71A at 1ohm
5000w is 100A at 1/2 ohm

There goes the FETs.

In users testing of various Taramp's over the years, it's been seen that to achieve maximum power out of them is to run them at higher voltage along with relatively higher reactive impedance.  

This was only done in burps but the amplifiers would allow upwards of 150-200v+ on the AC rail depending on model with a relative low current output (protecting the FETs from popping) to achieve insane output power.  

Reactive impedance would hover roughly 2-2.5x that of it's ohm model.

Would note that these tests were purely into clipping and some amplifiers did eventually die from consistent high rail voltage (we assume) as the micro-processor would die from these types of test but no burn marks from excessive current anywhere were found.

The results being obtained were similar to achieving a 40% increase of power from their 12.6v to the testing voltage ranges holding above 15.0v.

It's interesting to note today that the new Bass30k can withstand multiple burps outputting 200A on the FETs and never die.  
At the buildhouse testing this, the amplifier eventually went into protect, but only thermally and came out several minutes later.

This was to test it's abuse ability as it was wired to 0.3ohms with the intent to kill it which did not happen.
30,000w at 1ohm is 173A to give you idea of a guess at FET tolerance at least of Taramp's.
Rail voltage can easily surpass 200v on this model with light clipping and the 40K amplifier (12v)- will do over 200v and 200a just to make rated power.

IF you want to talk about a FET monster, we also manufacturer the largest HV amplifier in the world besides also the largest 12v amplifier.
The 160,000w amplifier will output 800 AMPS AC at 0.25ohm to achieve it's power with a 200v Rail.

They are not meant to be continuous output at all at this level but ~90,000w continuous is common if not more with this model.
Even at 90,000w at 1/2 ohm, we are looking at a steady ~425A of output.

I liked to show you various ratings from small to large amplifiers to get idea of what goes on at least with these type of amplifiers.

[WalledSonic]

@shizzzon, who do you work for? Seen you mention ‘we’ in a number of posts. 

I appreciate the informative posts, regardless 

[bmwking]

13 minutes ago, WalledSonic said:

@shizzzon, who do you work for? Seen you mention ‘we’ in a number of posts. 

I appreciate the informative posts, regardless 

im gonna guess Taramps

[shizzzon]

In respect to the possible rules of the message board, i cannot answer without public approval.

[WalledSonic]

Or a taramps distributor or something, huh? Im not hating, but a lot of the commentary is experiential so was just wondering the source