Speaker linguo: RMS v. PMPO v. Total Wattage

[xerocool]

What's the difference between these 3 terms? And what does each one indicate? When I look for speakers, which one should I pay more attention to?

 

[merlocka]

RMS = Root Mean Square = A way to rate an average continuous power.
PMPO = Peak Max Power Output = This is for amps.
Total Wattage = Another meaningless marketing term.

When I look for speakers, which one should I pay more attention to?

None of them. Absolutely none of them, and if you are shopping in a store where the salesperson starts talking about how many watts the speakers can handle, leave right away.

 

[xerocool]

Originally posted by: merlocka
RMS = Root Mean Square = A way to rate an average continuous power.
PMPO = Peak Max Power Output = This is for amps.
Total Wattage = Another meaningless marketing term.

When I look for speakers, which one should I pay more attention to?

None of them. Absolutely none of them, and if you are shopping in a store where the salesperson starts talking about how many watts the speakers can handle, leave right away.

alright, so then what do i look for when i look at speakers? i'm currently looking into 2.1 speakers because i just don't have the room for a 5, 6, or 7.1 speaker system right now. the ones i've narrowed it down to are altec lansing 621 and creative labs I-Trigue L3500. any suggestions?

 

[merlocka]

Originally posted by: xerocool

Originally posted by: merlocka
RMS = Root Mean Square = A way to rate an average continuous power.
PMPO = Peak Max Power Output = This is for amps.
Total Wattage = Another meaningless marketing term.

When I look for speakers, which one should I pay more attention to?

None of them. Absolutely none of them, and if you are shopping in a store where the salesperson starts talking about how many watts the speakers can handle, leave right away.

alright, so then what do i look for when i look at speakers? i'm currently looking into 2.1 speakers because i just don't have the room for a 5, 6, or 7.1 speaker system right now. the ones i've narrowed it down to are altec lansing 621 and creative labs I-Trigue L3500. any suggestions?

Try searching "speakers" in general hardware. There are several threads on this topic already.

Specifically, I can't speak for the Altec's, but I own (or have owned) the following 2.1's ...

Klipsch Promedia 2.1's
Cambridge Soundworks Microworks
Creative I-Trigue 3500
Creative Inspire 2500
Creative Soundworks

In my opinion, the Creative 3500's aren't very impressive. They are completely outdone by the Klipsch (which is expected due to the price difference), but are also sub part to the Cambridge (which were under $100).