RMS – WATTS – Peak – Continuous Power!
What do they all mean? Today we are going to quickly tackle this question and in the process equip you with enough knowledge to purchase the right speakers for your home theater setup.
First lets look at the terms, then we will tackle what you should be concerned with.
WATTS – This is the rating of how much amplification power a speaker can handle or a receiver or amplifier can produce. This is the number we are going to try and match, but which one? The WATT rating of equipment is stated in many confusing ways. The three main uses are Peak, Continuous Power, and RMS. Let’s look at those three and figure out which to use in our decision making process.
Peak WATTS – This is the maximum amount of amplification power a speaker can receive before damage or destruction occurs. (Well obviously we don’t want that to happen so we shouldn’t use this in our decision.)
Continuous Power – This describes the amount of power a speaker can handle for extended periods of time without causing damage. This one sounds promising! Only problem, this rating is usually buried deep in a manual and not easily visible on product packaging. So this rating standard may not be the best to use.
RMS – Stands for Root Mean Squared (there you go your GEEKY WORD for the day to impress your friends.) This method of measurement is the industry standard. It is basically the average power a speaker should be operated at. It is also usually plastered all over product packaging and is the preferred method of matching equipment to speakers for professionals.
So with that in mind you should never match the RMS WATTS of a receiver or amplifier directly to the Peak WATTS of a speaker (damage will ensue!) What you should do is match the RMS WATTS of the speaker equal to or greater than the RMS output of your receiver/amplifier.
example scenarios:
speaker RMS (50 W) – amplifier RMS (100 W) – BAD IDEA!
speaker RMS (100 W) – amplifier RMS (50 W) – GOOD!
speaker RMS (50 W) – amplifier RMS (50 W) – GOOD!
Good Luck! Next Time we will discuss Frequency Response and what that means!
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1 user responded in this post
I’ve had a sony receiver running two Pro Studio Speakers rated at 1,500 watts. My plan was to do DJ work or possibly rent to local church sound systems.
The speaker stand approximately 4′ tall, have two large woofers at the bottom for bass and twp, one is a 8″ the other a small tweeter at the top.
Here’s my problem, sure i could go to some pawn shop and purchase an amplifier…but what type and how many watts. My thinking was to only push the speakers approximately to 1000 watts, with a good board type amplifier, using the Equalizer to make up for the remaining 500 watts in sound quality.
However, I’d hate to do that only to find out two months later that I should have utilized the entire 500 watts remaining and have to spend more money on a bigger amp/board. Right now I’m just running it through about 250 watts per channel from a factory Sony reciever…sounds flat as heck but it’s just the beginning.
So, what would you rate these Pro Studio Speakers at? Some have told me that a reputable local band may be interested in Renting them as they are that good. Yet, then I am at their mercy at what they run into them..and any possible damage.
I just wanted a good sound system, and for the price I paid for it I couldn’t pass them up. Stay at the 1,000 watts per channel with a board equalizer? I’m lost at PA systems…but this seems like a conservatively safe zone for beginning.
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