I understand completely what you are saying. But what I'm trying to get across to you is, with a company such as Alpine, if they rate their woofers at 500 RMS, then I highly doubt it would take 1,000 RMS to get them to sound good. See what I'm saying? You use the rated RMS as a guide, so no... they DO mean something. They act as a guide, simple as that. Bottom line is, for a woofer such as the Type R rated 500 RMS, I wouldn't buy the Type R thinking OMG, LYK I ONLY HAV LYK UH 800 WATTZ TO SEND TO IT?! OMG I NEED A NEW AMP!!!121