subject: What Qualities to Look for in a Marine Amplifier [print this page] What Qualities to Look for in a Marine Amplifier
Admit it! Choosing the best marine amplifier for your boat is difficult. Just like shopping for car audio systems, you need to be wise in picking. Even with the huge selections on marine amp in the market today, it is important to look to even the littlest details of the amplifier. As a smart buyer, you don't want to just settle with products that claim to be the best' or products that are cheap but don't really deserve your time and hard earned money. It is important to get the best of all these qualities so you won't end up regretting. So how can you do that? Well, that's simple! The secret is RESEARCH. Take time to study and go through the many options available then compare. Nothing beats a smart buyer so make it a point to gather all your options and then narrow down your choices until you have come up with the perfect product that matches your requirements.
Here are some important pointers to consider:
Serve multiple audiophiles - Choose a marine amplifier that is designed to satisfy all audiophiles. This spells unlimited sound performance and audibility. It must be able to generate better sound quality and less distortion. By looking at the specifications of the product, you can easily determine the designed capability if the product.
Power efficiency This is another major thing to consider. Traditional class A/B or D amplifiers usually lack this quality. So, it will be wise to go for class G/H because the higher the class, the more power efficient it could be. Class G/H usually have 30%-50% better efficiency compared to other classes.
For boat owners, this means a 30%-50% battery time when the engine is off and the greatest advantage is that there is no need for a costly second battery. More than that, this can also give you the assurance that your boat will still start even when playing the stereo for longer periods of timer.
Staying power Most marine amplifier is installed in a secluded location where airflow is usually limited. If you are playing your marine sound system for long hours, it is essential that you choose marine amp that don't overheat. Amplifiers need air to cool down or else, it will shut down or go into an automatic overheat protection mode that shuts down the amp too cool it down and play again when temperatures are okay again.
Usually, class A/B and some type D amplifiers that operate at 75% or up can only play 45 minutes or longer without overheating. But class G/H marine amp, in the same environment, don't overheat.
So with all that being said, you should be able to wisely gather your options on marine amplifier and pick the right one that answers your needs. Don't just judge an amplifier based on hearsay or based on instinct. Dig deeper into the details and you'll see the difference of each. At the end, if you follow these tips, you will be happy at your decision.
