Damping Factor Calculator (From Benchmark Systems)

J!m

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#1
An interesting article on "damping factor" on the Benchmark site, but here's an interactive calculator you can use to see your actual damping factor as well as the actual error from the deigned frequency response of your speakers. It really highlights how cables can have an audible affect as well as why some amp/speaker combos "work" while others do not.

In my case, my amp's damping factor is listed as 60 (The Benchmark amp is over 300), which is pretty poor. But, since I have short, low-resistance cables, my error across the audio band is only 0.11dB. A damping factor of 270 or higher would be ideal, and limit error to 0.02dB. Note this does not account for phase variation, which can be much worse than the level variance, and also more detrimental to audio reproduction accuracy.

It's an excel file that I can't upload... Contact me if interested in it, or check Benchmark website: Audio Myth - "Damping Factor Isn't Much of a Factor" - Benchmark Media Systems
 

Gepetto

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#2
It is not the amplitude roll off associated with damping factor, although it is a very minor factor. It is the control of the drivers that is most important.

As an example, If you put 2 drivers in series and drive them with a high damping factor amplifier, despite the amp's high damping factor, it can do nothing to control the intermediate node between the 2 series drivers.
 

J!m

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The article digs in (a bit) on some of the other issues, but focuses on the "damping factor" number as published and how it actually relates to performance.

But you are absolutely right, and the phase shifts can be much larger concerns not addressed at all in the article (probably due to their complexity). The Thiels are low impedance but very well behaved otherwise, which helps immensely with everything.
 
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