Diffrence between peak wattage and rms?

Smartazz

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2005
6,128
0
76
My speakers are rated at 505 watts rms power and 1,000 watts peak power, what do these mean?
 

xylem

Senior member
Jan 18, 2001
621
0
76
The RMS value is the sustained wattage they can handle, and the peak value is the peak wattage they can handle. A true sustained 500 watts is a LOT to deliver to one speaker. Basically, if you were looking on a graph, at wattage delivered, over time, the RMS value would be a line that represents an average (of sorts... technically the Root Mean Squared) of wattage over time, and the peak would be just that, the peak wattage value reached, which in your case should not exceed one kilowatt. This is my basic understanding of it, at least.
 

Jiggz

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2001
4,329
0
76
Originally posted by: xylem
The RMS value is the sustained wattage they can handle, and the peak value is the peak wattage they can handle. A true sustained 500 watts is a LOT to deliver to one speaker. Basically, if you were looking on a graph, at wattage delivered, over time, the RMS value would be a line that represents an average (of sorts... technically the Root Mean Squared) of wattage over time, and the peak would be just that, the peak wattage value reached, which in your case should not exceed one kilowatt. This is my basic understanding of it, at least.


:thumbsup: Exactly what it means!
 

maluckey

Platinum Member
Jan 31, 2003
2,933
0
71
What you also have to take into consideration is the THD of the setup at Peak. More than 1 percent is unacceptable.

The final consideration is: At what Freq. are they using for advertising? A reputable manufacturer will use at least 20-20K range as the basis of their Peak/RMS ratings. Beware of those manufacurers that use a single frequency as basis of their ratings.