when it comes to an amps rms rating, does it put this wattage out all the time (even when the volume is low) or is it only when the music is cranked up? if its the later does this mean i could get an amp that has a higher rms than my sub and just keep the volume moderate?
Yes, RMS affects your volume. When you set your gains, essentually what you are doing is matching the output of your HU to the input on your amp. What gain amounts to is your "sensitivity" control.
The higher you turn up your HU, the more powerful the signal is that is sent to your amp. In turn, your amp it "told" to produce more power. When an amp reaches the point at which it can no longer produce more clean power, it clips.
ya get it?
Anonymous
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always have a higher rms spaeker than your amp. because lets say your spaeakers are 150 watt rms each and your amp is 700 watt rms and you turn up the volume you will blow your speakers out because your spaekers are only allowed to handle a max of probably 600 so they will blow. thats why if you get subs with a bit higher rms than your amp that is the safest way to go because your subs still have some wattage that is not used but can be .
ok people finally an answer. Ok rms is the watts it puts out. 500 watts can be a whisper or a boom dont matter. Adjusting your volume WILL NOT affect the rms power. a an lets say jl audio 500/1. It puts out 500 watts as long as the sub and amp are hooked up right. Lowering the volume just changes the signal strenght. You arent gettin less than 500 watts, your getting a softer quiter 500 watts. End of story.
Oh and also. I have my subs powered 1000 rms over the actual rms of the sub. Its better to over power a sub than underpower it. (Within reasonable amount.) so dont hook up something more than lets say 300 rms over the actual rating. I run spl comps so i know what my subs can handle, but stick to 300 over max.
"Adjusting your volume WILL NOT affect the rms power. a an lets say jl audio 500/1. It puts out 500 watts as long as the sub and amp are hooked up right. Lowering the volume just changes the signal strenght. You arent gettin less than 500 watts, your getting a softer quiter 500 watts. End of story."
Not true. The signal varies the voltage level presented to the amplifier, via a potentiometer (the volume knob), which varies resistance of the signal according to how much power you want to pass. An amplifier uses transistors that amplify either voltage or current (depending on transistor type, tubes and MOSFETS amplify voltage, bipolars amplify current), ideally this is totally linear replication of the input signal, only with more power. At low volumes, the potentiometer has higher resistance and cuts voltage, thus cutting power output (remember that power is volts x amps) and the amplifier will only be producing a couple of watts. There is no such thing as a soft, quiet 500W RMS, 500 watts is 500 watts and the speaker performs as the power level changes. The amplifier is capable of producing 500 watts, but rarely reaches that. For every 3db, you have to double the power output, so that 500 watt amp operating at 250 watts will be 3db down, then 125W will be another 3db down, and so forth.
Ok rms is the watts it puts out. 500 watts can be a whisper or a boom dont matter.
I have to disagree and restate basically what Jonathan said. A 500 watt amp, JL or otherwise, does not put out 500 watts at all times. An amplifier simply "mutiplies" the voltage on its inputs. Power is derived from from this multiplied output voltage and the load being driven. It follows this basic formula:
P = V^2/R
For example, an amplifier that is supplying 500x1 into a 4 ohm load would simply be providing the square root of P*R, (500*4)^1/2 or about 45 volts rms to that 4 ohm load. When you adjust the volume on your h/u what you're really doing is adjusting its output voltage. Since an amp's output voltage depends on its input voltage(the h/u's output voltage) the power produced depends on the h/u's volume.
Also, if an amplifier constantly produced 500 watts regardless of input voltage it would also be drawing the same amount of current all the time. Power In = Power Out or current*supply voltage = power output + heat. If you don't believe me, anyone with a JL 500/1 put a 10 amp fuse on the power wire, don't turn up the volume, and see what happens. Unless the idle current is greater than 10 amps that fuse ain't goin nowhere.