StormAudio PA 16 – 16-Channel Power Amplifier

Description

Overview

The PA 16 is StormAudio’s sixteen-channel power amplifier, at £11,950.99 inc VAT. It is the natural partner to an ISP processor: sixteen channels of Class D amplification in 3RU, with four independent power supplies and full status reporting back to the processor. One box drives most of a large immersive layout, and two will drive a thirty-two channel reference cinema.

Design & build

Part of the PA MK3 range, the PA 16 occupies 3RU and measures 49.1 x 44.2 x 13.27cm (depth x width x height) without ears or feet, with removable rack ears adding 4cm across and feet 2cm up. Net weight is 21kg. Inputs are sixteen balanced XLR; outputs are three-way binding posts accepting up to 4mm cable. Cooling is electronically controlled from several thermal sensors and stays below 30dB at maximum, which matters when the amplifier lives in the same room as the seats. Protection covers overheating, overcurrent, overvoltage and DC faults, indicated by a blinking front LED.

Sound & performance

The amplification is Class D developed with the Danish company Pascal Audio, using StormAudio’s UMAC output stage and UREC power supplies. With all sixteen channels driven from 20Hz to 20kHz at 0.1% distortion it delivers 200W into 8 ohms and 225W into 4 ohms; driving two channels at 1kHz it reaches 400W into 4 ohms. Signal-to-noise is better than 115dB referred to rated power, frequency response reaches 10Hz to 50kHz at the -3dB points, and the damping factor is greater than 400 — a measure of how tightly the amplifier grips a bass driver and stops it overshooting.

Key features

• 16 channels of Class D amplification in a 3RU chassis
• Bridged mode combines two channels to drive one loudspeaker — up to four bridged channels at 800W into 8 or 4 ohms, alongside eight single-ended channels
• Four independent UREC power supplies, 3200W total capacity, responding instantly to soundtrack dynamics
• StormMonitoring: temperature, fan speed, power and mute status, protection and malfunction reported inside the ISP processor’s web interface, on site or remotely
• Ethernet with DHCP or fixed IP address; trigger in and out, daisy-chainable with an electronic delay so a rack of amplifiers powers up in sequence
• Five-year warranty

Technology

The four separate power supplies are the interesting part. Rather than one shared reservoir shrinking as every channel demands current at once, each supply serves its own group of channels, so a bass transient in the front three does not rob the surrounds. Bridged mode is configurable rather than fixed, so the same amplifier can be set up as sixteen conventional channels, or as four high-power channels for left, centre, right and a subwoofer plus eight ordinary ones. Because the amplifier reports into the processor, a fault, an over-temperature or a muted channel shows up in the same interface used to calibrate the room.

Specifications

Sixteen channels, Class D. 200W into 8 ohms and 225W into 4 ohms with all channels driven at 0.1% distortion; up to 800W bridged. Signal-to-noise better than 115dB. Frequency response 10Hz to 50kHz, -3dB. Damping factor greater than 400. Sixteen balanced XLR inputs, three-way binding post outputs. 3RU, 21kg. Full detail in the specification table below.

Who it’s for

Anyone building a StormAudio cinema beyond the channel count a receiver can cover, and anyone who wants amplifier faults to surface in the processor rather than in the middle of a film. It is equally at home in a rack driving a sixteen-channel layout on its own, or paired with a second unit for a full thirty-two channel room. For eight channels with digital inputs and onboard speaker processing, look at the Impulsion 8.

Why buy from Hidden Home Technology

Hidden Home Technology designs, supplies, installs and calibrates complete StormAudio cinemas from our base in Bath, Somerset, and demonstrates across the South. Dan Crick has 25 years in the industry, the company has traded since 2004, and we are a CEDIA member (A-356536). We size amplification against the actual speakers and the actual room rather than a channel count on a box, and we commission every system we supply. Available through us; arrange a demonstration at our Basingstoke showroom, or read more on our StormAudio brand page.