When I first started playing, amp makers would give you the RMS rating and the peak rating of their amps. Maybe it didn't stop people from blowing their speakers, but it did inform newbies that there is a ton of power past the clean rating.
But people balked at the peak rating being quoted because it was often used to make amps sound like they were more powerful than they really were, so eventually the manufacturers dropped it in favor of quoting only RMS, and very few quote peak these days.
Cut to now, where distorted tones are a lot more acceptable, 1000w amps can be had for less than $300, and cabs are getting smaller and smaller. Blown speakers are at epidemic proportions with those rigs. I think a major reason is because newbies don't understand the whole RMS/peak thing. Just today, I saw someone on here say, "My amp puts out 200w, the speaker is rated for 175w, and I thought it was close enough to crank all the way up." Of course, that 200w RMS amp can put out over 400w peak and the 175w rating for the cab is its absolute maximum before the voice coil melts (that's a whole other rant), but how are they supposed to know that if they have no experience with amps and the makers don't inform them?
Therefore, I think the least they could do is educate the consumers a little more than they have been, and one thing that would help a lot is if manufacturers started quoting both RMS and peak wattages again, and explain in the manuals the difference.
Of course, until manufacturers start quoting REAL power handling specs for speakers and not these BS specs that tell only when the voice coil melts, it's still going to happen, but at least newbies would have half a chance to keep from blowing their stuff if they know that turning their amps up all the way can easily result in double or more the RMS wattage. I've brought this up before, and a couple people rejected it, but I don't see what it can hurt as long as they quote both RMS and peak. It would certainly keep some people from blowing their speakers, which in this day and age, should never ever happen.
What say you, the TB cogniscenti?
But people balked at the peak rating being quoted because it was often used to make amps sound like they were more powerful than they really were, so eventually the manufacturers dropped it in favor of quoting only RMS, and very few quote peak these days.
Cut to now, where distorted tones are a lot more acceptable, 1000w amps can be had for less than $300, and cabs are getting smaller and smaller. Blown speakers are at epidemic proportions with those rigs. I think a major reason is because newbies don't understand the whole RMS/peak thing. Just today, I saw someone on here say, "My amp puts out 200w, the speaker is rated for 175w, and I thought it was close enough to crank all the way up." Of course, that 200w RMS amp can put out over 400w peak and the 175w rating for the cab is its absolute maximum before the voice coil melts (that's a whole other rant), but how are they supposed to know that if they have no experience with amps and the makers don't inform them?
Therefore, I think the least they could do is educate the consumers a little more than they have been, and one thing that would help a lot is if manufacturers started quoting both RMS and peak wattages again, and explain in the manuals the difference.
Of course, until manufacturers start quoting REAL power handling specs for speakers and not these BS specs that tell only when the voice coil melts, it's still going to happen, but at least newbies would have half a chance to keep from blowing their stuff if they know that turning their amps up all the way can easily result in double or more the RMS wattage. I've brought this up before, and a couple people rejected it, but I don't see what it can hurt as long as they quote both RMS and peak. It would certainly keep some people from blowing their speakers, which in this day and age, should never ever happen.
What say you, the TB cogniscenti?
