watts?

[trashedxj 10+ year member]

how or what do you gotta do to find out how many watts is really coming out of your amp? i know some people say add fuses and times by 10 but is there anything you can do to really see true watts. if an amp says 500 but its really only puttin out a true 347 or whatever what do you do to figure that out?

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[ThatChevyGuy 5,000+ posts]

oscilliscope (sp)?

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

oscilliscope (sp)?

No.

how or what do you gotta do to find out how many watts is really coming out of your amp? i know some people say add fuses and times by 10 but is there anything you can do to really see true watts. if an amp says 500 but its really only puttin out a true 347 or whatever what do you do to figure that out?

A DMM and some simple math, knowing your speaker impedance, will get you close.

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

assuming the amp is 100% efficient

 

[trashedxj 10+ year member]

ok so whats the math to do and what do i put the meter on and where do i put the lil sticks on the meter at? the subs are DVC4 ohm so 2ohms per sub 2 subs per amp to a full 1 ohm per amp! thats what it will be soon right now i got a "1200" 4 channel, says will do 300X4@2ohms, i got each channel on 2ohms, 2 subs usin 1 channel each then one set of components on each other channel so its 2ohms per channel! i wanna know what true watts are comin out so i can put a review up cause the highs are crisp the bass is "semi" clean but is clear and decent(hit 138s on my buddys TL at his shop) but i dont really know the true watts makin it do it cause if im goin with 4 12's and 2000 watts soon and im only doing 2 12's with "300" each now i wonder what db i can expect when i get everything with the 3 batts and all hooked up!

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

wtf are you trying to determine?

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

assuming the amp is 100% efficient

Nope. You measure the amplifier's output with the DMM, you get 'true wattage' readings. What you are referring to is the amplifier's input current draw, which the efficiency would affect given a reading on the output stage.

 

[ascendantsubs1]

For a pretty close guesstimate, it can be as simple as hooking a voltmeter to your speaker leads when you play your amplifier and using the formula voltage times voltage divided by impedance. For instance, if your voltmeter says 10 volts and you know your speaker to be 4 ohms then simply calculate 10 volts times 10 volts which is 100, then divide by the impedance 4.. 25watts… Very simple!

God bless copy n paste

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

ok so whats the math to do and what do i put the meter on and where do i put the lil sticks on the meter at? the subs are DVC4 ohm so 2ohms per sub 2 subs per amp to a full 1 ohm per amp! thats what it will be soon right now i got a "1200" 4 channel, says will do 300X4@2ohms, i got each channel on 2ohms, 2 subs usin 1 channel each then one set of components on each other channel so its 2ohms per channel! i wanna know what true watts are comin out so i can put a review up cause the highs are crisp the bass is "semi" clean but is clear and decent(hit 138s on my buddys TL at his shop) but i dont really know the true watts makin it do it cause if im goin with 4 12's and 2000 watts soon and im only doing 2 12's with "300" each now i wonder what db i can expect when i get everything with the 3 batts and all hooked up!

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=206371

 

[Fiercetimbo17 10+ year member]

quit being a cheapass and buy this

http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/Fluke+330.htm