Accuphase Amplifiers: Damping Factor

[ticten777]

Hi All,

Accuphase is a brand that I have never owned but I get good vibes from them. I owned a Luxman 509X before. My question is: damping factors for pure class A amps tend to be on the low side and there seems to be a theoretical limit on how much global feedback you can use to improve damping factor for those amps (and indirectly I am assuming that bass performance improves in tautness and quality, I might be wrong). The reason is that excessive global feedback introduces distortion, and you need to strike a balance on how much is appropriate. Can anyone shed some light on this, in relation to your listening impressions? is it too good to be true that an amp like E-800 produces 50 watts pure Class A power with 1000 damping factor? Thanks!!!

 

[cloudhead]

Well, damping factor is also very much about reducing internal impedance in the amplifier, and Accuphase are improving their internal components with each iteration, swapping out higher impedance parts with lower impedance ones as they become available, which increases the damping factor with each new generation.

Just keep in mind that beyond ~300-400, increases in damping factor are not audible[1].

[1]: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-damping-factor-isnt-much-of-a-factor