Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Amplifier |
AmplifierNoun1. Electronic equipment that increases strength of signals passing through it. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Aerospace | A device which enables an input signal to control a source of power, and thus is capable of delivering at its output an enlarged reproduction of the essential characteristics of the signal.Typical amplifying elements are electron tubes, transistors, and magnetic circuits. (references) |
Electrical Engineering | Device for controlling power from a source so that more is delivered at the output than is supplied at the input ; device enabling sound to be intensified. Source: European Union. (references) |
| The device used to increase the value of a quantity by means of energy drawn from an external source. Source: European Union. (references) | |
| A device in which an input signal controls a local source of power in such a way as to produce an output which bears some desired relationship to, and is generally greater than, the input excitation. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Military & Defense | An amplifier is an electronic device that increases the voltage, current, or power of a signal. Amplifiers are used in wireless communications and broadcasting, and in audio equipment of all kinds. They can be categorized as either weak-signal amplifiers or power amplifiers. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
An amplifier is a device which changes a small movement into a larger movement. However, in general the most common and useful amplifiers actually use a small amount of energy to control a larger amount of energy. Furthermore it is of significant advantage if the amplified output is in a linear relationship with that of the input. This relationship is known as the gain of the amplifier.
The most common type of amplifier is the electronic amplifier, commonly used in radio and television transmitters and receivers, hi-fi units, microcomputers and other electronic digital equipment, and guitar and other instrument amplifiers.
Another type of amplifier is the fluidic amplifier, based on the fluidic triode.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Amplifier."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
This page is about amplifiers for musical instruments. See also instrumentation amplifier, a type of operational amplifier.
An instrument amplifier is an electronic amplifier designed for use with an electric or electronic musical instrument, such as an electric guitar.
an amplifier head
Most common forms
Instrument amplifiers come in two main forms. The combo amplifier contains both the amplifier and suitable loudspeakers in a single unit. In the other form, the amplifier is separate from the loudspeakers, and joined to them by cables. The separate amplifier is called an amplifier head and is commonly placed on top of one or more loudspeaker enclosures, the amplifier head and loudpeaker enclosures together forming an amplifier stack.
two combo amplifiers
a bass stackAn amplifier stack consisting of a head and two loudspeaker cabiniets is sometimes called a double stack.
History
The first instrument amplifiers were guitar amplifiers designed for use with electric guitars. Traditional guitar amplifiers provided a great deal of treble boost, and no high treble or low bass response at all. Some better models also provided a spring reverb and/or an electronic tremolo unit which electric guitarists (following the lead of the Fender company) have confusingly always called vibrato (and similarly they call a device designed to produce real vibrato a tremolo arm, see electric guitar, tremolo).
In the 1960s guitarists experimented with distortion produced by deliberately overloading their amplifiers. The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies was quoted as saying "you just turn it up and it sounds like that, s'loovly". At one stage Davies was producing distortion by connecting the output of one amplifier into the input of another, an abuse which the designers could never have imagined (but see Maton).
Later, many guitar amplifiers were provided with distortion controls, and fuzz boxes and other effects pedalss were engineered to safely and reliably produce these sounds. Today distortion is an accepted part of nearly all styles of electric guitar playing.
Guitar amplifiers were at first used with limited success with bass guitars and electronic keyboards, but it was quickly recognised that other instruments had different requirements to the electric guitar.
Present day
A wide range of instrument amplifiers is now available, some general purpose and some designed for specific instruments and even for particular sounds. These include:
Some amplifiers are designed to fill more than one of these roles, and may have multiple inputs.
- Traditional guitar amplifiers, with a clean undistorted sound, a sharp reble roll off at 5KHz or less and bass roll off at 60-100Hz, and often built-in reverb and "vibrato" units.
- Rock-style guitar amplifiers, intended for distortion.
- Bass amplifiers, with extended bass response and tone controls optimised for bass guitars.
- Keyboard amplifiers, with very low distortion and extended, flat frequency response in both directions.
- Acoustic amplifiers, similar in many ways to keyboard amplifiers but designed specifically to produce an "acoustic" sound when used with acoustic instruments with built-in pickups. (Note that there was once also a brand of guitar and bass amplifier called Acoustic, still seen second-hand.)
Some also have a microphone input. Guitar amplifier inputs typically have a nominal impedance of about 50K ohms, unsuitable for use with low-impedence microphones, so an impedence-matching device such as an audio balun must be used unless a low-impedence microphone input is provided. When a low-impedance input is provided this will generally be a balanced input and easily identified because it will use an XLR connector. Phantom power is not often provided, restricting the choice of microphones for use with these inputs.
Less common forms
Traditionally, an instrument amplifier provides sufficient gain to connect the instrument directly to its input, and sufficient power to connect loudspeakers directly to its output, both without requiring extra amplification. But other forms are possible.
Another arrangement, used more often for PA amplifiers, is to provide two stages of amplification in separate units. First a preamplifier or mixer is used to boost the instrument output, normally to line level, and perhaps to mix signals from several instruments. The output from this preamplifier is then connected to the input of a power amplifier, which powers the loudspeakers.
The preamplifier and power amplifier in this arrangement are often mounted together in a rack case. This case may be either free-standing or placed on top of a loudspeaker. If many rack-mounted effects are used, the rack may be a large unit on wheels. Some touring players need several racks just of effects units to reproduce on stage the sounds they have produced in the studio.
On the other extreme, if a small rack case containing both preamplifier and power amplifier is placed on top of a loudspeaker, the distinction between this arrangement and a traditional amplifier head begins to blur.
Another variation is to combine the power amplifier with the loudspeakers, which are then called powered speakers, and to use these with a separate preamplifier, sometimes combined into a pedal board.
Preamplifiers are also used to connect very low output instruments to instrument amplifiers.
Some major instrument amplifier manufacturers (alphabetical)
- Acoustic
- Alesis
- Ampeg
- Behringer
- Crate
- Electrovoice
- Fender
- Hartke
- Hoffman
- Ibanez
- Korg
- Line6
- Marshall
- Mesa
- Peavey
- Roland
- Ross
- Soldano
- SWR
- Vox
- Yamaha
External links
- Duncan's amp pages - all sorts of information, especially but not only on valve guitar amplifiers
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Instrument amplifier."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| AM | English | Amplifier | Electrical Engineering, Physics |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Marty you might not want to hook up to the amplifier. There's a slight possibility of overload (Back to the Future; writing credit: Robert Zemeckis; Bob Gale) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
| ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | David Sarnoff, three-quarter length portrait, standing, facing left, watching a demonstration of the RCA Electronic Light Amplifier at the RCA David Sarnoff Research Center, Princeton, NJ. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Amplifier 01" by Nicholas Sales Commentary: "Amplifier." | "Amp" by Rene Cerney Commentary: "Amplifier." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | One example of such a device is the built-in telephone amplifier. (references) | |
During an average year, about 75 cases of LAC encephalitis are reported to the CDC. Most cases of LAC encephalitis occur in children under 16 years of age. LAC virus is a Bunyavirus and is a zoonotic pathogen cycled between the daytime-biting treehole mosquito, Aedes triseriatus, and vertebrate amplifier hosts (chipmunks, tree squirrels) in deciduous forest habitats. (references) | ||
Economic History | China | The production equipment include: Camera/camcorder, video tape, cable, monitoring system, non-linear editing systems, 3D animation software, VCD production system, audio console, audio gathering recorders, editors, tripods, projectors, caption generators, non-liner video workstations, MPEG compression systems, touch screens, microphone, recording systems, editing consoles, adapters, wireless communication systems, animation workstations, teltext production & playout systems, AV distant transmission, lighting, audio amplifier speakers, amplifier, digital video effect, Monitor, SGI workstations, special AV cards, audio workstations and lighting consoles. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Amplifier" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.69% of the time. "Amplifier" is used about 325 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.69% | 324 | 15,993 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.31% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 325 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| USA | California Amplifier Inc. |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "amplifier": AF amplifier ♦ amplifier buzz ♦ amplifier distortion ♦ amplifier equivalent circuit ♦ amplifier hum ♦ amplifier input admittance ♦ amplifier tube ♦ amplifier valve ♦ audio amplifier ♦ audiofrequency amplifier ♦ balanced amplifier ♦ booster amplifier ♦ buffer amplifier ♦ cascade amplifier ♦ compensated amplifier ♦ compensated operational amplifier ♦ detonating cord amplifier ♦ differentiating amplifier ♦ frequency amplifier ♦ heterodyne CATV amplifier ♦ linear amplifier ♦ logarithmic amplifier ♦ MOS amplifier ♦ neutralised amplifier ♦ neutralized amplifier ♦ power amplifier ♦ radio frequency amplifier ♦ summing amplifier ♦ thermionic amplifier ♦ tunnel diode amplifier ♦ voltage amplifier. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "amplifier": pre-amplifier, servo-amplifier. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
stereo amplifier | 23,018 | amplifier schematic | 62 |
car amplifier | 7,625 | distribution amplifier | 59 |
amplifier | 1,525 | kenwood amplifier | 58 |
headphone amplifier | 825 | video amplifier | 56 |
marshall amplifier | 316 | amplifier kit | 54 |
guitar amplifier | 301 | cable amplifier | 53 |
audio amplifier | 180 | california amplifier | 49 |
power amplifier | 175 | peavey amplifier | 49 |
crown amplifier | 151 | vox amplifier | 48 |
phone amplifier | 121 | class a amplifier | 48 |
tube amplifier | 105 | alpine amplifier | 47 |
rf amplifier | 97 | cable tv amplifier | 47 |
integrated amplifier | 91 | low noise amplifier | 47 |
car audio amplifier | 87 | orion amplifier | 45 |
crate amplifier | 83 | sub woofer amplifier | 43 |
bass amplifier | 75 | tv antenna amplifier | 43 |
operational amplifier | 71 | pyramid amplifier | 42 |
sony amplifier | 66 | yamaha amplifier | 42 |
fender amplifier | 64 | pioneer amplifier | 41 |
linear amplifier | 62 | carver amplifier | 41 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "amplifier"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | përforcues (aphrodisiac, booster, magnifier, relay). (various references) | |
Arabic | مكبر الصوت (loudspeaker, megaphone, speaker), المضخم. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | усилвател (booster, intensifier), леща (lens, lentil, optic). (various references) | |
Chinese | 放大器 (magnifier). (various references) | |
Czech | zesilovaè (magnifier). (various references) | |
Danish | forstaerkeranordning (amplifying device, amplifying relay), forstærker (amplifying device, enhancer). (various references) | |
Dutch | versterker (amplifying device, enhancer, glaze suspending agent, intensifier, repeater, telephone amplifier, telephone repeater), geluidsversterkingstoestel (amplifying device). (various references) | |
Farsi | تقویت کننده (Booster, Reinforcer). (various references) | |
Finnish | vahvistin, äänenvahvistin. (various references) | |
French | amplificateur (ampli, amplifying device, amplr). (various references) | |
German | Verstärker (booster, intensifier, multiplier, repeater). (various references) | |
Greek | ενισχυτής (amp). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מגבר (booster). (various references) | |
Hungarian | erősítő (corroborative, intensifier, refreshing, repeater, restorative). (various references) | |
Indonesian | amplifayer, pengeras. (various references) | |
Italian | amplificatore (amplifying device). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 増幅器 , アンド回路 (ambassador, amber, ambiance, ambivalence, ambulance, amp, amphetamine, ampoule, AND circuit, boredom, enfants terribles, impromptu, umber, umbrella cut, umpire, unbalance, unbelievable, unfair, unhappy, unparser, unplayable). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ぞうふくき, アンプリファイア . (various references) | |
Korean | 증폭기. (various references) | |
Manx | mooadagher (magnifier). (various references) | |
Norwegian | forsterker. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | amplifieray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | amplificador (amplifying device). (various references) | |
Romanian | amplificator (magnifier, magnifying glass). (various references) | |
Russian | усилитель (magnifier, strengthener). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | amplifikator, pojačivač (intensifier), pojačalo. (various references) | |
Spanish | amplificador (booster). (various references) | |
Swedish | förstärkare (booster, positive booster). (various references) | |
Turkish | amplifikatör (amp, booster, power amplifier, repeater), yükseltici (booster, strengthening), hopârlör (loudspeaker, speaker), büyütücü alet. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | підсилювач. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | máy khuếch đại, bộ khuếch đại. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "amplifier": amplifiers. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "amplifier": preamplifier. (additional references) | |
Words containing "amplifier": preamplifiers. (additional references) | |
| |
"Amplifier" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: amphifier, ampifier, amplifer, amplifiy. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "amplifier" (pronounced a"mplufī'er) |
| 5 | -l u f ī' er | qualifier. |
| 4 | -u f ī' er | emulsifier, fortifier, humidifier, identifier, magnifier, pacifier, purifier, rectifier. |
| 3 | -f ī' er | bonfire, campfire, ceasefire, crossfire, foxfire, gunfire, wildfire. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-f-i-i-l-m-p-r" | |
-1 letter: imperial. | |
-2 letters: filmier, flamier, impaler, impearl, imperia, imperil, lempira, palmier, ramilie. | |
-3 letters: ampler, ferial, filmer, flamer, impair, impale, limier, limper, mailer, palier, palmer, pilfer, prelim, primal, refilm, remail, rimple. | |
-4 letters: afire, aimer, ample, ariel, email, farle, feral, feria, fermi, filar, filer, flair, flame, flare, fleam, flier, frail, frame, impel, lamer, lifer, limpa, maile, maple. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-f-i-i-l-m-p-r" | |
+1 letter: amplifiers. | |
+3 letters: preamplifier. | |
+4 letters: filmographies, overamplified, paterfamilias, preamplifiers, superfamilies. | |
+5 letters: patresfamilias, performability. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Names: Company Usage 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Abbreviations 15. Acronyms 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
