A karaoke amplifier is designed especially for karaoke machines; but you may wonder if you truly need one. While an amplifier can be designed for home use, most are for karaoke DJs. They have more features than a traditional public address system and they ease the process of setting up and taking down a karaoke setup.
These are all features that any karaoke DJ would love. In fact, some karaoke amplifiers are known as hybrids because they have some of the features normally found on pre-amps.
One feature in particular is multiple inputs, which enables you to get audio signals from more than one source. If you have an iPod and a karaoke machine, you no longer need a mixer because you can use your amplifier. Most also have a radio tuner.
A standard karaoke amplifier should be able to run at least four speakers effectively. As the general rule of thumb, a good setup includes two main speakers, a monitor speaker, and a subwoofer. Sound will get out to your audience when the subwoofer and main speakers work together.
The monitor speaker enables the karaoke singer to hear themselves. The best applications, like amplifiers, for DJs have a built-in crossover; this means the subwoofer's low frequencies only go to the subwoofer and this keeps them separate from the rest of the mix. Since higher frequencies don't need as much power, you can run the monitor and main speakers on the same channel.
You must match your amplifier to your speakers. Ensure the main speakers are able to handle more power than the amplifier, but it doesn't need to be too much more. For example, if you have an amplifier that can put out 300 watts, a speaker that can handle 450 watts is perfect.
If the amplifier is able to put out eight hundred watts, then an individual speaker must be able to handle one-thousand. However, when running that many watts, you will likely be running multiple speakers. In this case, you add the wattage of each together to determine how much they can handle. With eight hundred watts, you could run two five hundred watt (or even four hundred and fifty) speakers, or four two to three hundred watt speakers.
Keep these figures in mind when buying a subwoofer because you don't want to run a 1,500 watt subwoofer on a 300 watt amplifier. If you do, you won't get the best sound quality and may even burn out the amplifier because more power is needed than what is being provided.