Do Amps Lose Power Over Time????

 

Gold Member
Username: Mendonmafia

USA

Post Number: 1885
Registered: Aug-06
Do amplifiers wear out over time creating less and less power as you continue to use them?

I want to buy a second atomic 3k but there all old these days and i dont want to sell myself short when i can easily sell mine and get new amps.

Ive never clamped mine so i have no clue if mine is depreciating or even if it makes rated power.
 

Platinum Member
Username: Nd4spd18

Philadelphia, PA

Post Number: 10907
Registered: Jul-06
I see no reason why that would happen...
 

Silver Member
Username: Woofers4life

Lexington, Tennessee

Post Number: 159
Registered: Mar-09
yeah i agree with M.S. Logically i dont see how.

but it could come from the getting used to the bass from the said power and/or misuse of a amp and/or the underpowering of one.
 

Gold Member
Username: Th3pwn3r

I compensate...

Post Number: 9559
Registered: Jul-06
Sure, if you turn the volume down or resistance somehow increases OVER TIME.
 

Gold Member
Username: Mendonmafia

USA

Post Number: 1886
Registered: Aug-06
good thats the answer i was looking for :-) just bought the amp. running both 3ks this year.
 

Platinum Member
Username: Rovin

1 15 = 152.5 DBs ...Trinidad & T...

Post Number: 15872
Registered: Jul-05
that set is gonna be LOUD ...
 

Gold Member
Username: Bonhamd

Traverse City, MI

Post Number: 2026
Registered: Nov-07
6K will wham butts
 

Gold Member
Username: Somedonniedude

Illinois Braaap MX

Post Number: 2922
Registered: May-07
^Daniel knows all about whammin butts





jk jk
 

Bronze Member
Username: Kdryden

Post Number: 83
Registered: Dec-09
Actually amps can lose power over time depending on how the amp was treated. Transistors, resistors and capacitors can tend to degrade, mind you high quality amps are made usually with high quality capacitors and take a longer time to degrade, but they do degrade this unfortunately you wont know until you have tested the amp with a multimeter. Just to further prove my point if you take a computer motherboard, capacitors can leak after years of exposure to heat, dont forget guys a capacitor is like a battery. There are also opamps, or as many people know them since these are the most common type of opamp, the MOSFET, if the amp was pushed or forced to put out more power than it was meant to this could cause a degradation of the opamp. This is why i dont like buying electronics used, unless you really trust the person.

Trust me once youve taken a couple of electrical engineering courses (we mostly covered DC) and learn how easy it is for an electrical component to get damaged I only buy electronics if i have a warranty or I really really trust that the person selling it to me took care of it.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Kdryden

Post Number: 84
Registered: Dec-09
http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=APPLAB00009 4000005053505000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes&ref=no
 

Gold Member
Username: Livin_loud

COD4 Addict

Post Number: 3029
Registered: Jan-06
^ finally somebody with some know how
 

Platinum Member
Username: Rovin

1 15 = 152.5 DBs ...Trinidad & T...

Post Number: 15875
Registered: Jul-05
"""Daniel knows all about whammin butts"""


sorry man but thats hilarious ...LOL ....
 

Gold Member
Username: Mendonmafia

USA

Post Number: 1894
Registered: Aug-06
Damn ken wish i saw your post before i bought it. Apparently the amp is only a year and a half old so its still pretty new and i think my old one is doing rated power but im not positive its about 3 years old iirc. I need to get clamped to be sure but i have no way of doing that until i go to a comp in the summer.

Im assuming just setting the gain with a dmm and getting the voltage i want isint going to correctly tell me if its doing rated or not?

BTW i dont think that these amps are strappable but they do have rca outputs so i was going to run rca's from the HU into one of the amps then run a shorter cable from the outputs of the one amp into the inputs of the other and adjust the gains to output the same voltage using a 50hz test tone. Does this seem like a legit thing to do or an i stupid for not buying strappable amps?
 

Bronze Member
Username: Kdryden

Post Number: 93
Registered: Dec-09
If the amp you bought is a year old you dont have to worry much about loss in power.

Are there any settings for the pre-outs on the amp, maybe the manual will specify the type of rca outputs. I would check online or the manual before you waste your time, the answer might be in the book.
 

Gold Member
Username: Bonhamd

Traverse City, MI

Post Number: 2032
Registered: Nov-07
setting the gain with a dmm and getting the voltage will not tell you if they are doing rated.

there is much more that goes into measuring the power of an amp

i would call atomic if i were you. i dont see why these amps wouldnt be strappable. many amps are
 

Gold Member
Username: Mendonmafia

USA

Post Number: 1896
Registered: Aug-06
there is no settings for the pre-outs on the amp and i do not have a manual.

I figured that simply using a dmm to check output voltage wouldnt tell me much if anything.

To my understanding strapped amps will both adjust output based on the one gain nob of the master. There is no master or slave switch on these amps so the best i can do is try to match to output voltage of each amp independently.
 

Gold Member
Username: Mendonmafia

USA

Post Number: 1901
Registered: Aug-06
contacted atomic. they say that the 3k's ARE strappable. i guess idk what the means lol.
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