Power handling
| Sound measurements | |
|---|---|
|
Characteristic
|
Symbols
|
| Sound pressure | p, SPL |
| Particle velocity | v, SVL |
| Particle displacement | δ |
| Sound intensity | I, SIL |
| Sound power | P, SWL |
| Sound energy | W |
| Sound energy density | w |
| Sound exposure | E, SEL |
| Acoustic impedance | Z |
| Speed of sound | c |
| Audio frequency | AF |
| Transmission loss | TL |
|
|
|
Audio power is the electrical power transferred from an audio amplifier to a loudspeaker, measured in watts. The electrical power delivered to the loudspeaker, together with its efficiency, determines the sound power generated (with the rest of the electrical power being converted to heat).
Amplifiers are limited in the electrical energy they can output, while loudspeakers are limited in the electrical energy they can convert to sound energy without being damaged or distorting the audio signal. These limits, or power ratings, are important to consumers finding compatible products and comparing competitors.
In audio electronics, there are several methods of measuring power output (for such things as amplifiers) and power handling capacity (for such things as loudspeakers).
Amplifier output power is limited by voltage, current, and temperature:
As an amplifier's power output strongly influences its price, there is an incentive for manufacturers to exaggerate output power specs to increase sales. Without regulations, imaginative approaches to advertising power ratings became so common that in 1975 the US Federal Trade Commission intervened in the market and required all amplifier manufacturers to use an engineering measurement (continuous average power) in addition to any other value they might cite.
For loudspeakers, there is also a thermal and a mechanical aspect to maximum power handling.
There are no similar loudspeaker power handling regulations in the US; the problem is much harder as many loudspeaker systems have very different power handling capacities at different frequencies (e.g., tweeters which handle high frequency signals are physically small and easily damaged, while woofers which handle low frequency signals are larger and more robust).
Since the instantaneous power of an AC waveform varies over time, AC power, which includes audio power, is measured as an average over time. It is based on this formula:
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