the Rockford Fosgate Punch P5002 (1500W) amp compaired to the Pioneer GM-5000T (760W) {which i currently use}? Will there be a ton of difference when used with my Punch 300W 12in. subs? Or will I have to get better subs to notice anything? Thanks guys!

James

 

The difference between those two amps will be huge, night and day. Pioneer doesn't make any good amps anymore, unfortunately. But keep in mind that the RF there is a 500W RMS amp, the 1500W on the amp is "marketing power" or peak power.....

 

Does 500w RMS mean thats the max power that can be given to one sub? I went and looked, my subs (Punch) are only 250W Max, is the amp too much for those?

 

No, RMS is the rating for how much it can flow constantly stabily. Max power is how much it can put out at any given time. And no, you cant have "too much amp" for a speaker, but you can use too much (meaning, having your stereo on full blast for a long time). If you use disgression in you listenings, you'll be fine.

 

Close on RMS, but a little off. Copied from an old text box missing the cover and half it's pages.

"In a direct current (DC) circuit, voltage or current is simple to define, but in an alternating current (AC) circuit, the definition is more complicated, and can be done in several ways. Root-mean-square (RMS) refers to the most common mathematical method of defining the effective voltage or current of an AC wave.
To determine RMS value, three mathematical operations are carried out on the function representing the AC waveform:
(1) The square of the waveform function (usually a sine wave) is determined.
(2) The function resulting from step (1) is averaged over time.
(3) The square root of the function resulting from step (2) is found.
In a circuit whose impedance consists of a pure resistance, the RMS value of an AC wave is often called the effective value or DC-equivalent value. For example, if an AC source of 100 volts RMS is connected across a resistor, and the resulting current causes 50 watts of heat to be dissipated by the resistor, then 50 watts of heat will also be dissipated if a 100-volt DC source is connected to the resistor.
For a sine wave at 60Hz, the RMS value is 0.707 times the peak value, or 0.354 times the peak-to-peak value. Household utility voltages are expressed in RMS terms.? A so-called "117-volt" AC circuit carries about 165 volts peak (pk), or 330 volts peak-to-peak (pk-pk)."

So, if and amp is running along at 60Hz and dumping out a nice sing wave at 100W P, it is at the same time putting out 70.7W RMS.
But to answer the "to much amp" question, NO. You'll just want to keep the gains down. You can feed a speaker a little more power as long as it's cleaned.

 

that being said tho.. i wouldnt give a 300 watt RMS speaker 600watts rms at high volume levels for long periods of time.

because you can over heat the voice coil and it will start to sound really crappy

 

And kill it. I hooked up this .5watt speaker to my 100watt home reciever, and played it really loud. It fried within a matter of seconds. Smelled good though, and the smoke was nifty looking :-P

 

i didnt get a chancce to finish but yea when you over heat the coil it separates and will hardly play at all and if it does it wil be so horrible

 

For a sine wave at 60Hz, the RMS value is 0.707 times the peak value, or 0.354 times the peak-to-peak value. Household utility voltages are expressed in RMS terms.? A so-called "117-volt" AC circuit carries about 165 volts peak (pk), or 330 volts peak-to-peak (pk-pk)."

It's not uncommon for electronics books to have errors....

I think they have it backwards, .707 X peak-peak, .354 X peak. That makes a bit more sense, doesn't it?

I ordered a CET study guide and it came with a page long 'corrections' list. I'm glad they realized after they printed the book, at least they caught it all before I take the exam! I think I'll go read it now, all this electronics talk is getting me horny.



-an amp can out power a speaker by hundreds of watts, nothing will happen if the gain and cross-overs are set to match the speaker's abilities correctly