Wattage contradiction?

[gitrguy87]

I just purchased a Crate BX100 bass amp. It is 100 watts. Bu the thing is, on the back of the amp it says 300 watts. Whats the correct wattage?

 

[Track Rat]

It may refere to how much power it consumes. Or it may refere to peak output rather than RMS. In what context does it say 300 watts?

 

[gitrguy87]

All it says is:

watts: 300

 

[bongolation]

Gotta be peak power consumption.

 

[mshilarious]

The moral of the story is that amps aren't anywhere near 100% efficient.

 

[gitrguy87]

It probably is power consumption.
Thanks!

 

[ggunn]

I just purchased a Crate BX100 bass amp. It is 100 watts. Bu the thing is, on the back of the amp it says 300 watts. Whats the correct wattage?

If where it says "300 watts" is near a courtesy plug where you can plug in a 120V AC device, it means that this the maximum power that you can supply on that line without blowing the fuse, and it has nothing to do with either the power of the amp or how much juice it uses. I've seen that before; some Fender amps have this sort of notation on the back. It usually says something like "max" or "maximum power" along with the number.

 

[ibanezrocks]

does it say that on the speaker? because that could just be the max wattage for the speaker. Amps almost always have speakers that are rated higher than the amps output.

 

[BroKenSticKs]

wattage changes depending on ohm's....it may say 300 into 2 ohms

 

[gitrguy87]

Its power consumption.

 

[Imaduck]

You got me looking at my little Fender Blues Jr. rated at 15 watts. It's nameplate says 180 watts !!! Talk about an inefficient amp !!! Must be the damn tube filaments that are takin' all that power. Time to ditch this little parasite and get a good, efficient solid state amp.

The number represents peak wattage. Tube amps peak much MUCH higher than their rated RMS values, hence why tube amps have a higher max input wattage. Still, I believe you are also correct in assuming they are also less effeciant.