What is slew rate for amps?? (1 Viewer)

[Fletcher]

Could someone please explain what "slew rate" is for an amplifier and how it effects the sound. I don't even know if a higher number or lower number is better. Maybe someone could also say what are some good values and what are some bad values.
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Fletcher

 

[Ken Situ]

Alright, I will take a shot from memory (you know that people say, my memory is good, it's just short) at this. "slew rate" is a measure of the rise time. It measures how fast you amp can go from a voltage level A to a voltage level B.
I think the high the slew rate, the better it will be able to response to incoming signals, espectially if the incoming signal changes rapitly (sp?).
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[Robert A]

Slew Rate basically causes distortion. Due to the capacitors in an amp the voltage across them (capacitors) cannot change instaneously. When the input signal changes faster than the capacitive elements of the amp can handle then the output will distort. Slew Rate is measured usually in V/µs (volts per micro-second). The higher the number the better because then it can handle more input faster. In this case faster is better. I'm just a humble student of EE and I'm not sure what all of this sounds like in your speakers. But I do know that distortion is bad.

If you have any other questions or if this is a little confusing let me know.

 

[Michael Yung]

So what is a good number for slew rate? 50 Volts/Microsecond? What's a good general guideline? Thanks for anyone's help.