I'm shopping on Sony's site for all the parts I need for a car audio system, and they have me confused on their power statistics. I understand what peak power is, and I know that I don't want my amp putting out anywhere near that much. But some items also have listed rated power, and RMS (CEA 2013) power listed. For example, one subwoofer has 1300w peak (380w rated), and 500 watts CEA 2031 RMS power. I researched RMS, and everything is telling me that is the rating I should be using for my amp output, but I don't want to be wrong and buy an amp that is going to eventually burn up my speakers. Thanks very much for any assistance.
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Because waveforms are only at the peak for a very short period of time, the most useful figure for amplifiers is RMS - which actually gives a realistic number for the power requirement. That said, you want a speaker to cope with peaks, as these are what will kill it. Generally subwoofers do give both figures, as they are fed the greatest power in your audio system. If your amp gives 350W RMS output on the sub channel, for example, then you will be safe with a 500W RMS sub with 1300w peak. Simple view: Just make sure your speaker numbers are higher than your amp numbers :-) In my car, I have a 650W amp - although some of my speakers are only rated to 500W - but I feel safe, as my volume controls on the amp are only at around 2 (out of 10) because any louder means I can't have a conversation with anyone in the car even if I shout. |
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