A tough challenge for test engineers is explored in terms of test methods, pitfalls, and measurement errors. For the test engineer, RF and microwave power amplifier testing imposes unique challenges.

In a world of tight timelines and ever-increasing performance requirements, it’s critical to create circuit designs right the first time; thus, engineers in the analog and mixed-signal industry often ...

Previous installments of this article series discussed the need to verify SPICE model accuracy and how to measure the output impedance, small-signal bandwidth, and input-referred errors of operational ...

More often than not we see folks on our forums and other forum websites debating how powerful a particular amplifier or receiver is based upon a single test popularized by many print magazines and ...

At a 25-dBm input, the third order output power is about 12.5 dBm compared to 45 dBm for the linear output. But, for a 10-dB increase at the input, it’s grown to 42.5 dBm while the linear output has ...

Howdy guys - I have an XPA-2 amp hooked up to a pair of B&W683's and am curious how many watts (in real time) I am using. I am not worried about over driving the speakers or worried that the amp is ...

I'm researching preamp-amp matches and due to lack of information on the Internet am left with a question regarding output/input differences between balanced and unbalanced feeds. The contemplated ...

It’s no surprise then that one of the first specifications a novice or seasoned enthusiast looking to buy an AV receiver or amplifier sees is its power output ratings. After all, it’s among the most ...

There has been a lot of controversy on many of the Internet forums regarding power capability of receivers when driving multi-channel speaker systems. Some argue that when a receiver is rated at ...