hmm........
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Okay, I hear this one WAY too much and it has never made any sense to me, so I would like to clarify a bit..............
Then are two different types of measurements when it comes to Power supplied by an amplifier and Power absorbed (or handled) by a speaker.
1. MAX - this is the Maximum power the speaker will EVER handle, or the amp will EVER supply.
2. RMS - this is the average power and is a measurment used in the industry MUCH more. Since many electrical compnents run on AC voltage (and an amps output is an AC output) the output is going to oscillate between it peak (MAX) positive and negative outputs. But if you averahe this over time you get numbers that are more "steady".
The 120V supplied by a US standard power outlet is an RMS measurement. The MAX or peak to peak voltage that you REALLY get is more like 170V. Now when have you EVER heard someone talk about having to get a toaster that can hanlde twice as much power as your outlet can supply. I'd bet you haven't..
Usually a reputable company will give output of its amplifier or the handling of its speakers in RMS terms. The place where you run into trouble is when companies with lower quality products decide to make thier products sound better by using MAX ratings instead of RMS ratings. They will advertise thier amp as putting out 14 watts when that is really the MAX value and the actual RMS rating is 10W. The consumer sees that and says "wow, that is a good deal on a 14 watt amp, thats much better than that 10W marshall amp"
The same goes for speakers... some companies will only advertise thier power handling in MAX values, so you buy a speaker cabinet for your amp that says it will handle 100W, but it really can only handle 70W RMS. (you see this sort of things A LOT more in PA cabinets, though)
The moral is the story is to BE CAREFUL, and study the products that your are looking to buy. Sometimes you will have to actually read the product manual or get the specs from the companies website. Then you begin to realize that that incredibally cheap PA power amp that can put out 1500W bridged at 2 ohms, is really only putting out 75W RMS at 8ohms, and is WAY underpowered!! And THAT is why it is so cheap.
Remember to match the proper values!!! If someone is advertising thier product in MAX values, match it with a speaker of the appropriate MAX value. If someone advertises thier product on RMS values be sure you match the RMS values of the other components.
Here are some helpful equations.....
Max to RMS = Max/ square root of 2
RMS to Max = RMS * square root of 2
Square root of 2 = about 1.4 (notice is is still not quite 2)
Now don't believe the people who will automatically tell you that you need to get speakers rated for twice the power output of your amp!! When you are dealing with classic companies like Fender, Marshall, Celestion, the are all using RMS values. A Vox AC 30 originally shipped with two 15W speakers (a 30W equivalent) and how many people have you ever heard of that have thier speakers in the AC30 constantly blow up- well you don't!!
Just remember to match RMS to RMS, and MAX to MAX, and do a little homework. The old twice power speaker handling to power amp output rule is a good "safe" rule, but is often unneccesary. If it were absolutely true than you could never use a 4x12 cab loaded with specialty speakers like greenbacks and you definately see people running these all the time along thier 100W amps, so Never fear!! Just be smart about it and stop listening to salesmen
THE END
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, I hear this one WAY too much and it has never made any sense to me, so I would like to clarify a bit..............
Then are two different types of measurements when it comes to Power supplied by an amplifier and Power absorbed (or handled) by a speaker.
1. MAX - this is the Maximum power the speaker will EVER handle, or the amp will EVER supply.
2. RMS - this is the average power and is a measurment used in the industry MUCH more. Since many electrical compnents run on AC voltage (and an amps output is an AC output) the output is going to oscillate between it peak (MAX) positive and negative outputs. But if you averahe this over time you get numbers that are more "steady".
The 120V supplied by a US standard power outlet is an RMS measurement. The MAX or peak to peak voltage that you REALLY get is more like 170V. Now when have you EVER heard someone talk about having to get a toaster that can hanlde twice as much power as your outlet can supply. I'd bet you haven't..
Usually a reputable company will give output of its amplifier or the handling of its speakers in RMS terms. The place where you run into trouble is when companies with lower quality products decide to make thier products sound better by using MAX ratings instead of RMS ratings. They will advertise thier amp as putting out 14 watts when that is really the MAX value and the actual RMS rating is 10W. The consumer sees that and says "wow, that is a good deal on a 14 watt amp, thats much better than that 10W marshall amp"
The same goes for speakers... some companies will only advertise thier power handling in MAX values, so you buy a speaker cabinet for your amp that says it will handle 100W, but it really can only handle 70W RMS. (you see this sort of things A LOT more in PA cabinets, though)
The moral is the story is to BE CAREFUL, and study the products that your are looking to buy. Sometimes you will have to actually read the product manual or get the specs from the companies website. Then you begin to realize that that incredibally cheap PA power amp that can put out 1500W bridged at 2 ohms, is really only putting out 75W RMS at 8ohms, and is WAY underpowered!! And THAT is why it is so cheap.
Remember to match the proper values!!! If someone is advertising thier product in MAX values, match it with a speaker of the appropriate MAX value. If someone advertises thier product on RMS values be sure you match the RMS values of the other components.
Here are some helpful equations.....
Max to RMS = Max/ square root of 2
RMS to Max = RMS * square root of 2
Square root of 2 = about 1.4 (notice is is still not quite 2)
Now don't believe the people who will automatically tell you that you need to get speakers rated for twice the power output of your amp!! When you are dealing with classic companies like Fender, Marshall, Celestion, the are all using RMS values. A Vox AC 30 originally shipped with two 15W speakers (a 30W equivalent) and how many people have you ever heard of that have thier speakers in the AC30 constantly blow up- well you don't!!
Just remember to match RMS to RMS, and MAX to MAX, and do a little homework. The old twice power speaker handling to power amp output rule is a good "safe" rule, but is often unneccesary. If it were absolutely true than you could never use a 4x12 cab loaded with specialty speakers like greenbacks and you definately see people running these all the time along thier 100W amps, so Never fear!! Just be smart about it and stop listening to salesmen
THE END