Damping factor

In an audio system, the damping factor is defined as the ratio of the rated impedance of the loudspeaker (usually assumed to be 8 Ω) to the source impedance of the power amplifier. It was originally proposed in 1941. Only the magnitude of the loudspeaker impedance is used, and the power amplifier output impedance is assumed to be totally resistive.

This article is about the damping factor of loudspeakers. It is not to be confused with the damping ratio in any damped oscillatory system.

In typical solid state and tube amplifiers, the damping factor varies as a function of frequency. In solid state amplifiers, the damping factor usually has a maximum value at low frequencies, and it reduces progressively at higher frequencies. The figure to the right shows the damping factor of two amplifiers. One is a solid state amplifier (Luxman L-509u) and the other is a tube amplifier (Rogue Atlas). These results are fairly typical of these two types of amplifiers, and they serve to illustrate the fact that tube amplifiers usually have much lower damping factors than modern solid state amplifiers, which is an undesirable characteristic.

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