Max Power or Continuous Power
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Trial User
Joined: May 2000
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Max Power or Continuous Power
whats the difference? im looking at an amp and it says 300 Max Power or 150 Continuous Power. how much power will be really running to my sub with this amp. its the pioneer GM-X562 amp by the way
New User
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 251
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Re: Max Power or Continuous Power (97GSR)
you'll be getting 150 to each sub and 300 only when it hits hard/low/deep bass. also its probably at 14.4 volts which your car doesnt always get. thats my understanding of it...
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,101
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From: Toronto, ON, Canada
Re: Max Power or Continuous Power (DuNkiN)
Learn to never, ever, ever bother with max power. It's useless. It's the "if lighting strikes" and my amp for 1 millisecond could output the highest power when it's freezing outside and I'm only playing a single sound - output power.
RMS, or Root Mean Square power, is the average or continous power your electronics will receive.
The most important things to do when comparing an amp is figure out how much power each channel will get, and the distortion. To get the power per channel, just look, if it says 150 wRMS x 2, then it is most likely putting out 75 watts rms to each channel. Distortion is rated in thd, with anything below 0.08 thd being inaudble to everyone but audiophiles.
Most amps are rated at 14.4 volts, which is above average voltage from your car with the car running. Usually your system gets 12 volts. A 12 volt rating is more powerful, and better to use as comparisons then a slightly overrated 14.4 volt rating.
Also, an amp saying it can do 150 w RMS @ 0.1 thd is not as good as an amp that states 150 w RMS @0.5 thd but most ratings are stated with the amp driven to 0.1% thd.
Use these guidelines to compare amps and you'll be better off when you choose!
Happy Hunting!
RMS, or Root Mean Square power, is the average or continous power your electronics will receive.
The most important things to do when comparing an amp is figure out how much power each channel will get, and the distortion. To get the power per channel, just look, if it says 150 wRMS x 2, then it is most likely putting out 75 watts rms to each channel. Distortion is rated in thd, with anything below 0.08 thd being inaudble to everyone but audiophiles.
Most amps are rated at 14.4 volts, which is above average voltage from your car with the car running. Usually your system gets 12 volts. A 12 volt rating is more powerful, and better to use as comparisons then a slightly overrated 14.4 volt rating.
Also, an amp saying it can do 150 w RMS @ 0.1 thd is not as good as an amp that states 150 w RMS @0.5 thd but most ratings are stated with the amp driven to 0.1% thd.
Use these guidelines to compare amps and you'll be better off when you choose!
Happy Hunting!
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