This is a follow up to a discussion here on what a manufacturer is promising in their specifications on amp power. The following was posted by Mark Seaton on
AVSforum "The amp being referred to isn't the Speakerpower amp, but the one FunkyWaves mentioned, but I think you are implying a definition of "RMS" to mean long term continuous output. The two are not the same. RMS is a root-mean-square average which does imply that the power exists long enough to create and measure a sine wave. "RMS" makes no indication of how long that sine wave must be produced. Most of the modern, >kW Class D amps are designed a bit more practically with the capability of sustained power ranging from 5 seconds to a few minutes, depending on the design. Most common is about 15-45 seconds with the power then ramping down to anywhere from 1/6th to 1/2 of the maximum RMS rating. The new high power Speakerpower amps are in the 1/3rd-1/2 sustained realm, ICEpower modules are closer to 1/6th, with the PowerSoft designs having a rather short duration at very high power, and much less on the sustained power (I don't recall the ratio).
Lesson of the day? Don't read more into a spec than is specified."
So, my understanding is still that when a manufacturer promises 130 watts x 2 they are talking about RMS power. In the above, Mark is repeating what I was told by a senior engineering manager for Peavey in another AVSforum thread.
Johnk. Does this contradict what you have been writing here or are we talking different things?
