Amplifiers - The cost of a watt. What contributes to the price increase of higher wattage amps?

Question

This is something I've always wondered about but never bothered asking. Say you go to a home/car audio store to look at amplifiers. You have 2 amps, both made by the same company, both almost the same model, both of the same quality parts -- the only difference is the price and the wattage.

What exactly makes higher wattage amplifiers cost more money than lower wattage amplifiers? Do they just price higher wattage amps higher to make more money off of enthusiasts or are there technical reasons behind this?

I don't know too terribly much about electronics, but something seems a little fishy here. As far as I know, wattage is just determined by how much power is outputted, which to me is almost directly related to the power input, which is just amplified by other circuitry.

It just doesn't make sense to me why this would constitute a higher price.

Anyone know about this sort of stuff?

I hope I categorized this question right. Electrical engineering is what I was really after

Answer 1

An amp that's capable of putting out a LOT more power than another would require components (transformers, diodes, transistors, etc.) that are capable of carrying more current (amperage), and higher rated components cost more than lower rated components. Two amps that are rated about the same shouldn't require significantly different components and shouldn't cost more as a result of the components.

If you ever come across an amp that delivers less power than higher wattage amps but costs more, it's probably got better "specs" than the other amps. That is, it probably produces a cleaner signal than the other amps, and has better circuitry and/or better quality components in its design.

When it comes to amplifiers, manufacturers have a million ways to make their product seem better than it is. For example, they might rate their power output as "peak", "average", or "continuous", and may even rate it at a different distortion level than other amps so a direct comparison is nearly impossible.

Answer 2

Heavier wattage means more power consumed as well as more power output - which means heaver and higher power components throughout the amp, from transformers to resisters to circuit board print to output devices and their associated heat sinks and so on. All of this simply means increased manufacturing costs which are reflected in the retail price of the amp.

Answer 3

Besides heavier power amplifier chips, which are not all that expensive, when you go to higher power you require a heavy duty power supply and filter system. The power to the amps starts to sag under the stress of driving them harder, so special attention has to be spent on design to compensate, requiring more parts.

But mostly it is perceived value, so the price should not climb all that much!

Answer 4

There are massive homestead amps. they are extra complicated to construct which makes them costly. Plus it does not take as plenty SPL to sound loud interior the homestead considering which you haven't any longer have been given the noise of the motor vehicle to shield. On precise of that homestead audio shoppers are not many times bass-heads like the final public of folk searching for vast sound interior the motor vehicle so Kwatt+ amps for subs are not that uncomplicated. the subject concerns are contemporary and AC. It takes contemporary to produce audio potential. In a motor vehicle there is countless contemporary (100A+ from the alt @ 14v -- 300A+ from the battery @ 12v)while in comparison with what's obtainable interior the homestead - maximum circuits have 15A fuse breakers. Plus, the 1st step for a house audio amplifier is to transform the ac voltage to dc it incredibly is then switched over returned to ac for the output. motor vehicle audio (DC) amps get to do away with the ac to dc step completely. Partsexpress has a 1000w rms sub amp and a pair 500w plate amps, plus a 950w dayton rack type.