[Amps] Westinghouse BC Ammeter QX-37

[Bill Turner]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

At 12:23 AM 1/9/2006, Steve Thompson wrote:

>Most amplifiers can achieve 65% efficiency but will be noticably cleaner
>if they're correctly tuned/loaded for 50-55%.
>
>Steve


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I'm sure your statement is correct in a technical sense, but is more 
"cleanliness" necessary? I prowl around the bands a lot and the only 
evidence I hear of unclean amps are from ones that are overdriven. 
Overdrive can happen in a class A amp too, so what does one gain by 
running at 50% efficiency?

In other words, if an amp already meets FCC specs for IMD, what does 
a five or ten dB improvement get you?

It makes me think of Charlie Brown's statement: "It's like wetting 
you pants wearing a dark suit. It gives you a warm feeling but nobody 
notices." :-)

Bill, W6WRT