Crown Audio MA-36X12 - Manual (Page 24)

Operation Manual
Macro-Tech MA-24X6 & 36X12 Power Amplifiers
page 24
This section provides detailed information about the amount of power
and current drawn from the Macro-Tech 24X6 and 36X12 amplifiers and
the amount of heat produced under various conditions. The calculations
presented here are intended to provide a realistic and reliable depiction
of the amplifiers. The following assumptions or approximations were
made:
• The amplifier’s available channels are loaded, and full power is being
delivered.
• The amplifier efficiency at standard 1 kHz power is estimated to be
65%.
• Quiescent power draw is 90 watts (an almost negligible amount for
full-power calculations).
• Quiescent thermal dissipation equals 105 btu/hr at 90 watts.
• The estimated duty cycles take into account the typical crest factor for
each type of source material.
• Duty cycle of pink noise is 50%.
• Duty cycle of highly compressed rock ‘n’ roll midrange is 40%.
• Duty cycle of rock ‘n’ roll is 30%.
• Duty cycle of background music is 20%.
• Duty cycle of continuous speech is 10%.
• Duty cycle of infrequent, short duration paging is 1%.
Here are the equations used to calculate the data presented in Figures
8.1 and 8.2:
The following equation converts power draw in watts to current draw in
amperes:
The value used for Power Factor is 0.65. The Power Factor variable is
needed to compensate for the difference in phase between the AC mains
voltage and current.
The following equation is used to calculate thermal dissipation:
The value used for amplifier inefficiency is 0.35 (1.00-0.65). The factor
3.415 converts watts to btu/hr. Thermal dissipation in btu is divided by
the constant 3.968 to get kcal.
If you plan to measure output power under real-world conditions, the
following equation may also be helpful:
8 AC Power Draw and
Thermal Dissipation