I know I'll probably sound like a newbie, but...

What's the deal with overrating and underrating the wattage of amps? Ever since I got into car audio It has amazed me just how much difference there is between the stated wattage of an amp and how much power is actually being put out. Does every brand have it's own rating system or something. I understand why a company might want to overstate the wattage, but I'm sure they end up with a lot of unhappy customers. But companies like rockford will understate it. You would think telling customers they actual (higher) wattage would help their sales. It just doesn't make sense to me.

 

Understating the amps output is for competition. When you enter your car in audio competition, you get put into a certain category which is determined by the rated output of your amps. An underarted amp allows you to cheat and go into a lower category so you can kill everyone else.

 

Check the CURRENT DRAW of the amp. Seemingly underrated amps have a much higher current draw and therfore create much more power. Two amps can have the same watt rating but the one with the higher current draw will always seem more powerful.
More expensive , better quality amps have good internal components capable of handling higher currents allowing them to produce much more power per watt than a cheaper made amp. which is why cheaper amps tend to fry often.

 

that is not completely accurate, but box is right in some form or another.

i think what you meant to say was power per current or something to that effect. power per watt would be like saying time per hour. just alittle side note to clear things up a bit.

 

Compare a 25W Phoenix Gold or Soundstream in High-Current mode to a 25W Jensen The 25W Phoenix may be rated @ 4 ohms (as most competition rules state)..but stable to .5 ohms. Thats 200W from a "rated" 25W amp.

..try that with a Jensen! KABLOOOEY!!!

 

That's not a very good analogy because I have a Punch 100 (50 x 2) that I paid ~$400 for and if I were to bridge it down to .5 ohms guess what it'd do?

"KABLOOOEY!!!"

AJ

 

yeah i agree, you are on the right track but alittle overboard.