I - like Amir - use the point where the THD starts degrading severely (i.e. "shooting up") as the point of clipping. Schiit uses 1% THD. I can see where they're coming from, but unless the amp clips softly (which the Schiit doesn't) I think it's more honest to use the point where the THD+N graph shoots up.
Also note that Stereophile tends to use quite few points in the sweep, so the difference in output power between the data point with THD below 1% and the data point with THD above 1% can be quite significant. That's another way of "cooking the books".
I'm not suggesting that one method is right and another is wrong, only that I find "my" method (which Amir also happens to use) to be more honest. Then again, my honesty will probably limit my business potential as my output numbers will always be lower than "the other guy's".
That's no longer a case of reading a graph in a certain way then. That's a case of a "music power" spec. Or perhaps a made up "spec". Either way, I'm disappointed that stuff like this makes it to the "recommended" list.
Tom
Ive mentioned this recently to @amirm that ASR should settle on a consistent THD figure for amp power ratings as at the moment its still variable. Hypex, like Schitt use 1% and I think this is fairly common throughout the industry. However in mine, and probably most peoples opinion is thats too high.
Its a little arbitrary what figure to settle on so long as its not considered a significantly audible level of distortion. Equally I dont think we should shoot for ridiculously low figures.
0.1% or 0.01% Personally I actually consider 0.1% a pretty sensible compromise.
Opinions everyone?
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