are high current receivers hype or a necessity? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_Garcia]

Are high current recievers useful at all? I know that denon, onkyo, and marantz make high current receivers but which one is really "true" high current. The only thing i read about is that they create less distortion and they provide more power. Is that true?

 

[John Garcia]

It's a little of both. I consider it a marketing term, as current mass market amplifiers have no more power than they ever did, and higher current amps do have the potential to deliver more power. There are, of course, manufacturers who have better amplifier sections than others in the same price range, and the best way to tell if a receiver has decent power is to LISTEN to them.

 

[Craig Aguiar]

Higher current gives you better dynamic range and quicker response to passages with sudden bursts of low frequencies. This means better sound quality. The person in the previous reply is right. Listen. If it sounds good, must be good. If it costs $1000 but sounds like the $300 dollar one next to it, don't waste your money.

 

[Iver]

The actual power output by an amplifier is measured in watts. Watts are calculated by multiplying voltage times amperage. Current is amperage, amps.

To make a comparison to water flow in a hose, volts represent the pressure of the water while amps represent the amount of water running past a point in the hose over a certain period of time. Resistance would be similar to the thickness and length of the hose.

If you are talking about a given amplifier running into a given load (resistance in Ohms), the output of the amplifier will consist of a measurable level of volts and amps, the product of which is power in watts.

Any manufacturer can call their amplifier high-current, but to make the claim meaningful they would have to give you a number for the level of current, in amps or milliamps. Were they to do that, you could then make comparisons based on amperage (current).

Until then, power in watts will remain the useful reference point for comparison of amplifiers.