whats the watts mean on a stereo?

[EmilyP]

so theres these two stereos
and im choosing which one too get,
but what does it mean
when it says 400watt max

or 900watt max ?

[TashaC]

the power??

i dunno, i remember doing this in science at school, not that i ever listened so couldnt tell you the answer, i am just guessing!

[downcounttotheoffblast]

Watts are an indication of how much energy the amplifier can produce.
It's deceptive. Measuring watts can be subjective, some times people will use 12v or 16v to get their meaurement, and Max is nothing you want to pay attention to, because you will never run your amp at max unless you want to blow your system.

You should look for RMS watts, which is the actual amount of wattage the amp can produce.

If you can't get a hold of information like RMS watts, total harmonic distortion, or you can't decide based on name brand quality, then i would go with the higher wattage stereo.

[fivetoze]

watts equals volume power! but dont confuse rms with pmpo. (peak music power output)

my home stereo is around 400 watts, and believe me, its deafening... but its as much to do with the speaker capacity as it is with sheer volume... you shouldnt run your system at full power, coz it'll distort, and sound terrible...

[Brooke]

the watts are how loud it can play
The bigger the number the louder
400 watts is pretty loud
900 watts can get really loud
I'd get the 400 watts because I wouldn't be turning
My sterio up to 900.
That's like really loud
Plus the more watts it has, the more expensive.

[michaelB]

The watts are the volume capacity of the speakers, 75 watts would be sufficient for the royal albert hall, the sizes you are talking about are powerful enough to blow the roof of the house, try them before you buy them it seems a little over the top unless you are throwing parties in a field.

[OPC]

how loud it can get

[amp9C1]

How much power the speakers use, i.e. how loud they are at maximum volume.
It's also important to note how many channels of sound there are. A 2.0 system with 400 watts could have speakers that are just as loud as a 5.1 system with 900 watts.

[amp9C1]

How much power the speakers use, i.e. how loud they are at maximum volume.
It's also important to note how many channels of sound there are. A 2.0 system with 400 watts could have speakers that are just as loud as a 5.1 system with 900 watts.

[manimal347@rocketmailecom]

I agree with Downcount, but I will add this:
If a product doesn't provide wattage figures in RMS and at a distortion figure lower than 10%, they're fudging, and the stereo is assuredly crap. There's no good (or possible, even) audio equipment maker that openly lies about specifications; industry-leading companies happily slap a 50w2 sticker on a thousand dollar amplifier, and the worst companies have put 600 watt stickers on $5 computer speakers.

900w sound pretty high, might I add. A rackmount amp capable of an honest 450Wx2 could easily cost a few week's salary, and will weigh quite a bit.