RMS power versus Peak Power?

[efm80 10+ year member]

i noticed my infinity perfect components handle 25-100 watts RMS and 400watts peak. Also noticed my Infinity Perfect 12's handle 75-400 watts RMS and 1600 watts peak. 1.)My question is what is the difference between RMS and Peak?? And I know the obvious that RMS rated power is what it would optimally handle continuously and peak is max it would handle. I guess I am wondering why my Perfect speakers handle so much more at peak than other speakers. I usually notice component speakers handling about 2 times there rated RMS power at peak and same with subwoofers. For instance the Jl W6 handles up to 600 watts RMS and 1200 watts peak. So its max handling is double its RMS. But my Perfect subs peak at 4 times their rms(400 compared to 1600)??? 2.)why is that?? 3.)so would the w6 be able to handle more or the Infinity perfects??

thanks

eddie

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[revrider1 5,000+ posts]

hmmm

 

[Bigpimpin91 10+ year member]

RMS is what you should base your amplifier power around.

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever go by peak, ever.

 

[01 S 10 10+ year member]

dont worry about peak, and for the most part go by RMS. peak is to help sell to NOOBs that say "yeah man my subs is 304583282 wattz! "

 

[aussiek2000 10+ year member]

I hate when kids at school are like "Yeah, I have 2000 watts" But they really only have like 250RMS and 600 peak. Pretty bad when I am louder on 1 12" DUB mag audio than a kid's 4 10" rockfords.

 

[mike70wu 10+ year member]

It seems as if some companies usually the lower end companies like to play with their peak rating, such as sony, I think their subs are rated at like 1200 watts or something?..its juss blahh

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

Peak is a useless number //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[mike70wu 10+ year member]

I hate when kids at school are like "Yeah, I have 2000 watts" But they really only have like 250RMS and 600 peak. Pretty bad when I am louder on 1 12" DUB mag audio than a kid's 4 10" rockfords.

Whoa if your 1-Dub subwoofer is louder then 4 rockfords thats messed up, dub mag audio is low end stuff...not dissing but they are pretty cheap and heard alot of bad stuff bout it

 

[efm80 10+ year member]

so why do perfects handle so much more peak than their RMS????? And I am wondering all of this because I will have 2 jl hd750/1 and noticed my perfects handle more peak than the w6. I was wondering if I should just use the hd750 on the perfecst rather than W6's even though the w6 is rated higher at rms??

 

[95BlackGA 5,000+ posts]

so why do perfects handle so much more peak than their RMS????? And I am wondering all of this because I will have 2 jl hd750/1 and noticed my perfects handle more peak than the w6. I was wondering if I should just use the hd750 on the perfecst rather than W6's even though the w6 is rated higher at rms??

It's all about advertising. That is all. A sub can not, and will not handle their peak power for a continuous period of time.

 

[2002XLT 5,000+ posts]

so why do perfects handle so much more peak than their RMS????? And I am wondering all of this because I will have 2 jl hd750/1 and noticed my perfects handle more peak than the w6. I was wondering if I should just use the hd750 on the perfecst rather than W6's even though the w6 is rated higher at rms??

Dude, the peak number does not matter, just go by RMS and dont even pay attention to peak. Its a fantasy number that was made up by the marketing department to sell you a "higher-power" sub.

 

[efm80 10+ year member]

Dude, the peak number does not matter, just go by RMS and dont even pay attention to peak. Its a fantasy number that was made up by the marketing department to sell you a "higher-power" sub.

kinda what I figured... so The w6 would definitely handle more power the the perfect, right???

 

[Silver-N-Black 10+ year member]

Yes the W6 will handle more power. When shopping for an amp/sub/comp look at the RMS.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Who cares how much they "handle?" It's not like you're goingto be running several thousand watts. Rated power handling has no bearing on how well subs can perform in any category.

 

[efm80 10+ year member]

Who cares how much they "handle?" It's not like you're goingto be running several thousand watts. Rated power handling has no bearing on how well subs can perform in any category.

kinda lost you with that statement?? So you are saying rated rms values mean nothing?? how much do you then know to feed to them?

eddie

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

The RMS value is a MAX value. You don't NEED to feed them nearly that much. In the category of subs you're looking at, 400 watts from an amp will be plenty and the sub(s) will do fine provided you set things up correctly. 400W is really plenty for most people on subs though way too many feel the need to stroke their ego with big numbers. if all you care about is listening to your music, having a lot of power isn't that important. If being a general prick and annoying those around you with your total lack of respect for others is what you're after, only then is more power important. You can get bass that you can feel in your gut and can rattle the mirrors with only 400w. We did it for years when that was a lot of power.