Building a traditional amplifier isn't rocket science, but making a digital one that's a fraction of the size and just as powerful is. Part of a wireless music-streaming system, the tiny Sonos Zone Player ZP120 is able to drive giant speakers like the B&W 803s [pictured] using the same kind of power supply found in satellites. Analog amplifiers take a weak signal from a CD player or other input and ramp up the voltage until it's powerful enough for the speakers. But most of the electricity used to build up the power leaks out as heat, requiring a bulky metal radiator to dissipate it. A typical digital amp is more efficient because it jumps straight from the input to the output voltage. But it's mated to a power supply that always delivers the same level of power, much of which is wasted. The ZP120 instead uses a resonant switching power supply (RSPS), which delivers precisely the amount of power that the digital amp demands. To produce 110 watts of output, the ZP120 needs just 125 watts of power. An analog amp requires about 400 watts.
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机译：制造传统放大器不是火箭科学，而是制造数字放大器，它的尺寸很小，功能也一样强大。作为无线音乐流系统的一部分，小型Sonos Zone Player ZP120能够使用与卫星中相同的电源来驱动B＆W 803s之类的巨型扬声器。模拟放大器从CD播放器或其他输入端获取微弱的信号，然后逐渐增大电压，直到对扬声器足够强大为止。但是，用于建立电源的大部分电能会随着热量泄漏出去，这需要笨重的金属散热器来散热。典型的数字放大器效率更高，因为它会从输入电压直接跳到输出电压。但是，它与始终提供相同功率水平的电源配对，其中很多功率是浪费的。取而代之的是，ZP120使用谐振开关电源（RSPS），它可以精确地提供数字放大器所需的功率。要产生110瓦的输出，ZP120仅需要125瓦的功率。模拟放大器大约需要400瓦。
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