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Macro-Tech 5000VZ Power Amplifier
Reference Manual
Crown specifications are guaranteed for three years.
In an effort to provide you with as much information as possible about the high power-producing capabilities of your amplifier, we have
created the following power matrices.
Minimum Guaranteed Power Specifications
Crown’s minimum power specifications represent the absolute smallest amount of output power you can expect from your amplifier
when it is driven to full output under the given conditions. Some spaces in each matrix may be left blank because the same guarantee
is not provided for those conditions—however, your amplifier will perform well under all conditions listed in each matrix.
When measuring power, 0.1% THD appears to be the industry standard for distortion. Two of the maximum average power
specifications shown in each minimum power matrix are measured at 0.1% THD so you can easily compare Crown specifications to
those of other manufacturers. But this high level of distortion actually allows for some clipping which is undesirable. Because of this,
a maximum average power specification at 0.05% THD is included in each minimum power matrix which represents non-clipped
conditions. Although most manufacturers do not give you power specifications at 0.05% THD, we encourage them to provide these
specifications so you will have a more realistic representation of the way amplifiers should be used in the real world—without a clipped
output signal.
Fig. 6.1 Minimum Power Matrix
Many manufacturers publish power specs with a
tolerance of ±1 dB or worse. This means their ampli-
fier can deviate more than 20% in output! A 100 watt
amplifier would meet their specification if it only pro-
duced 79.4 watts. Other manufacturers qualify their
specs by saying they are “typical,” “subject to manu-
facturing tolerances,” “single channel driven” or that
they are specified with “fuses bypassed.” Each of
these statements effectively removes any perfor-
mance guarantee. In fact, some manufacturers use
these tactics to generate large power numbers, and
they don’t even print a disclaimer. We take a differ-
ent approach at Crown—our amplifiers are
guaran-
teed
to meet or exceed their specifications for three
years. Further, because our published specs are
set below our “in-house” measurements, you can
expect
every
Crown amplifier to
exceed
its pub-
lished minimum power specs. We believe you
should get what you pay for.
Minimum Power Notes:
All minimum power specifications are based on 0.1%
regulated AC mains and an ambient room tempera-
ture of 70° F (21° C). Standard EIA power (RS-490) is
not identified here because it is identical to FTC Con-
tinuous Average Power.
1. A 1 kHz sine wave is presented to the amplifier and
the output monitored for nonlinear distortion. The
level is increased until THD reaches 0.1%. At this
point, average power per channel is reported.
2. A sine wave is presented to the amplifier over the
range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz and the output moni-
tored for nonlinear distortion. The level at each fre-
quency is increased until THD reaches 0.1%. At
this point, average power per channel is reported.
3. A 1 kHz sine wave is presented to the amplifier and
the output monitored for nonlinear distortion. The
level is increased until THD reaches 0.05%. At this
point, average power per channel is reported.
4. Continuous power in the context of Federal Trade
Commission testing is understood to be a minimum
of five minutes of operation. Harmonic distortion is
measured as the RMS sum total and given as a
percentage of the fundamental output voltage. This
applies for all wattages greater than 0.25 watts.
