Re: New Lightweight Power Amp Ratings
Thanks... yes mostly... Improvements in technology has driven down the cost of all power amps strong and wimpy. I recall when $1/watt was cheap... but since then that 1 watt has also been somewhat degraded by lesser duty cycles. This mix of weaker duty cycle amps has been reinforced by customers rewarding cheaper solutions that work for them.
Specifically regarding the new crop of cheaper power amps, I suspect most of the cost reduction is from new technology, not weaker performance but as I have repeated multiple times, there is no easy way to characterize duty cycle that is meaningful, so we need to wait for reports from actual users in the marketplace to learn how these new amps work in real applications.
If the manufacturers have half a clue they should be merchantable (fancy way of saying they should work). However, i don't expect the cheapest value brand to ship an amp that wildly exceed expectations. if they do, they likely missed their design target by overshooting.
Good luck, and listen for user reports.
JR
