How to tell if amp does rated power?

[microhaxo 10+ year member]

I see people on these forums saying "It doesn't do rated power" or "it does close to rated" or "it will do rated power" Now my question is: Are these people guessing if the amp will CLEANLY do rated power or are they using some equipment? Because i can make almost any amp give the RMS power they claim, but i dont have the equipment to tell if its 100% clean or not.

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[headbussaboi 10+ year member]

DMM, clamp MM, and an o-scope will be your best bet.

 

[microhaxo 10+ year member]

Well i use the DMM and i can tune an amp to purr nicely at what its SUPPOSED to output but i dont believe that everyone has an 0-scope to check the sine wave for clipping.

Is that pretty much the only way?

 

[Etac 10+ year member]

you can get a rough idea by running a test tone and listen for when it starts to sound funny

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

i have an o-scope //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[microhaxo 10+ year member]

Well i must be the only one who doesnt have 300 to drop down on a handy dandy o-scope. Lmao I wonder if i can borrow one from the uni..

you can get a rough idea by running a test tone and listen for when it starts to sound funny

Wouldnt it have to be decently clipped to notice any actual distortion in signal?

 

[t-money 10+ year member]

I see people on these forums saying "It doesn't do rated power" or "it does close to rated" or "it will do rated power" Now my question is: Are these people guessing if the amp will CLEANLY do rated power or are they using some equipment? Because i can make almost any amp give the RMS power they claim, but i dont have the equipment to tell if its 100% clean or not.

i think most say that depending on the company who makes the amp. some companies you know the amp will do atleast rated power. Others go by reviews and tests that others have done on the amp. Or they use a o-scope and test for themselves

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

i have an o-scope //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

I have an old Sencore SC61. Have you tried any of the new handhelds?

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

dmm will be good but u gota know how to use it the right way . I would say u need to look at the amp and if its a off name company then u know its not gona put out what it says it will. Im not sayin that the big name companys dont lie a tad but its more then likely gona be the sh ity amps that are way off. You have to look at what the amp does at what volt thats so important now adays. if u can keep your volts up then your gona see alot more power.

 

[microhaxo 10+ year member]

dmm will be good but u gota know how to use it the right way . I would say u need to look at the amp and if its a off name company then u know its not gona put out what it says it will. Im not sayin that the big name companys dont lie a tad but its more then likely gona be the sh ity amps that are way off. You have to look at what the amp does at what volt thats so important now adays. if u can keep your volts up then your gona see alot more power.

what?

A dmm wont tell you anything about if the amp does rated power or not. I can make an amp that says it only does 75w do 200w and verify it via DMM but that doesnt mean that it is a clean signal.

I think o-scope is the only way.

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

i mean u can set you gains that way , im sorry yea o-scope would be fine.

 

[microhaxo 10+ year member]

Do those Digital hand held o-scopes work good?

 

[1rockford1 5,000+ posts]

Do those Digital hand held o-scopes work good?

i never used one, im sorry bro i got alittle confused alot on my mind today my bad.

 

[microhaxo 10+ year member]

lol thats alright, its christmas. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Mass Car Audio 10+ year member]

Current draw (amps) X efficiency(%) X current draw (volts) = estimate of RMS

Example (class d) - 123A x 86% x 13v = 1375 watts RMS (estimate)