That sounds like a small transformer for a huge power output. How do you figure this?
How do you get these figures?
It's a huge difference in cost so I am intrigued.
For one simply add up the costs. SMPS is comprised of nothing but transistors, diodes, smaller value capacitors etc. As my favorite man Randy Slone, has said, when he worked at Heathkit back in the day, they were not allowed to bend over to pick up any components dropped, while working on the production line. At the end of the day all dropped components would be swept up, and dropped into grab bags to sell to hobby electronic shops. It cost more money to bend over to pick up a dropped component, then it was worth. I have always said SMPS is like replacing a transformer supply, with one of these worthless grab bags. Mr Slone himself said entire amplifiers could be made less then the wholesale oem cost of a torodal transformer.
When SMPS was invented, they changed the way power amplifiers were rated. Power was now rated as a 22ms burst, despite the fact 500ms burst would be required to mimic a complete audio signal, and 3 seconds full burst would be required for EDM bass. Today most SMPS are measured this way, and you can find WIlliston Audio labs using the AMP DYNO, to measure thousands of amplifiers, this exact same way. AS such I have always said we are using measuring specifications of power , that do not even reproduce an audio signal.
If you check Yorkville sounds ratings for toroidal amps, you will note they were one of the few manufacturer, to also add the burst ratings. Almost any toroidal amplifier, using the same measuring tactics, currently used to measure smps power, would easily double their current and actual specifications, and this is after the fact, that many of these high powered pro amplifiers used under rated transformers to begin with.
Transformers are specified out at CONSTANT power. So a 500va transformer should run a 500 watt heater if need be, on a constant full burn at 500 watts indefinitely. The dynamic nature of music, has average power of the transformer like this, way down at just a few hundred watts at most. as such a transformer of 500va should be able to easily handle twice it's VA rating, when used for music. However if one is actually going to consider a 22 ms burst, power worth measuring, It would probably peak out 4 times higher.