Wednesday 25 December 2013

Advantages Of High-Efficiency Cordless Speakers

By Michelle Jaeger


If you are about to buy brand-new wireless speakers, you most likely are asking yourself how efficiently your cordless speakers operate. I'll show you just what the expression "power efficiency" means plus why you ought to take a closer look at this figure during your selection of brand new cordless loudspeakers. A relatively high amount of power is radiated as heat when you get a set of low-efficiency wireless loudspeakers. This may bring about a number of problems: Cordless loudspeakers that have low efficiency are going to squander some power. It's smart to be aware of the added power expense while choosing between a high- and low-efficiency model. The wasted energy is radiated by the cordless speakers as heat. To shield the circuit elements, low-efficiency cordless speakers must find solutions to get rid of the heat that is generated. Generally extra components have to be included to dissipate sufficient energy and sustain the ideal working temperature. These elements are typically heat sinks and fans. These heat sinks consume a good amount of space and make the cordless loudspeakers bulky and heavy. Further more, they add to the price of the cordless speakers. Cordless speakers that have low efficiency cannot be put in small spaces or inside sealed enclosures as they demand a good amount of circulation.

The less efficient your cordless loudspeakers are, the more power is going to be squandered which leads to many issues: Low-efficiency wireless speakers are going to waste some power as heat and are more costly to operate in comparison with high-efficiency products because of their higher power consumption. Heat won't radiate properly through small surfaces. As a result low-efficiency wireless speakers need to use heat sinks. These heat sinks consume a good amount of space and make the wireless loudspeakers large and heavy. Further, they raise the price of the cordless speakers. Low-efficiency cordless loudspeakers additionally require a good amount of circulation around the wireless speakers. As a result they can not be put in close spaces or within air-tight enclosures.

Considering that low-efficiency wireless speakers are going to produce just a small fraction of the energy consumed by the amplifier as useful audio power, the amplifier needs a larger power source than high-efficiency types causing more expensive. Additionally, because of the large amount of heat, there is going to be much greater thermal stress on the electric components and interior materials which may trigger reliability issues. On the other hand, high-efficiency wireless loudspeakers can be produced small and lightweight. When trying to find a pair of cordless speakers, you can find the efficiency in the data sheet. This figure is normally listed as a percentage. Class-A amps are among the least efficient and provide a efficiency of approximately 25% only. In comparison, switching amplifiers, often called "Class-D" amps deliver efficiencies up to 98%. From the efficiency percentage you can calculate the amount of energy the amp is going to squander. An amplifier with a 50% power efficiency is going to squander 50 % of the used energy. An amplifier that has 90% efficiency will squander 10%.

Take note, though, that efficiency depends upon just how much energy the amp provides at a given moment. Every audio amplifier will use up a certain amount of energy irrespective of whether or not it supplies any kind of power to the speaker. That is why the smaller the power the amplifier delivers, the lower the power efficiency. For that reason audio producers typically specify the efficiency for the highest audio power that the amp can deliver.

What's less well-known about efficiency is the fact that this figure isn't fixed. In reality it differs based on how much power the amplifier offers. For that reason at times you can find efficiency figures for various power levels within the data sheet. Every music amp will consume a certain level of power irrespective of whether or not it supplies any power to the speaker. For that reason the smaller the power the amplifier delivers, the lower the power efficiency. As a result audio suppliers typically specify the efficiency for the greatest audio power that the amp can supply. The measurement setup of amp power efficiency makes use of a power resistor that is connected to the amp. The amplifier itself is being fed a constant-envelope sine-wave tone. Next the power absorbed by the resistor is measured and divided by the power the amplifier uses. Generally a full power profile is plotted to display the dependence of the efficiency on the output power. Because of this the output power is swept through various values. The efficiency at every value is calculated plus a power efficiency graph generated.

Cordless loudspeakers that use switching-mode amplifiers contain a switching stage which will cause some amount of non-linear behavior. Thus cordless speakers that use Class-D amps generally have lower audio fidelity than types utilizing analog Class-A amplifiers. Subsequently you are going to have to base your decision on whether you need small size and minimal power consumption or highest audio fidelity. Having said that, digital amplifiers have come a long way and are offering improved music fidelity than in the past. Wireless loudspeakers that employ Class-T amps come close to the music fidelity of products which contain analog amps. Therefore choosing a set of wireless loudspeakers which utilize switching amplifier with good music fidelity is now feasible.




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