By
Yorkville Audio
Images extracted from: http://affordableaudio.biz/
Amplifier
power ratings these days tend to be in watts expressed as "continuous
average" or "burst average" or "peak" or "music
power" or "continuous music power", etc. In the old days, the nomenclature
was "RMS" which stands for "root mean square" and reflects
the results of a test for the amp's long-term, continuous output capability.
Other,
more modern tests tend to net fairly similar results but are more complex and
require more sophisticated equipment. Two ratings which are worth looking for
are Continuous Average Power and Burst Average Power.
The
first rating will be similar to what an RMS test would net and the second one
will be higher, reflecting the amplifier's ability to repeatedly produce clean
peaks which last for at least one complete wavelength.
