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rms vs. peak vs. program

J

jpark369

Jun 2, 2007
498
6
Portland, Maine
#1
ok so i get rms is steady amount of watts pumping, and peak is a loud burst, but program?

so, what does it mean when the description of a bass cab says:

1600 watts program power handling?
3200 watts peak?
nothing about rms?

does that mean the cab can do 1600 rms? or what? damn manufacturers and their confusing jargon!
 
#8
jpark369 said:
if that true my peavey can take 1600 watts program. meaning it does 1600 watts rms?
Click to expand...

personally, I would not give it more than 1000 watts, if you want it to last. EQ will have a large bearing on what it will take also. And honestly, if you need more than 1000 w, you should be thru the FOH anyway. I run 2- 500rms cabs, and never give them ea. more than 200w and run my DI to a channel on the mixer. I want my quality gear to last. ( and also my hearing)
 
#9
right, i hear that.
i have 2 peavey tour neo 4x10s and an svt 4pro. i was thinking of trying to run the amp in mono and just push all the power into that 4x10 sometimes, an other times pumping them both.
i just wanted to check. somebody, anybody, peavey, let me know the deal!!!! is it 1600 rms or what?
 
#10
seanm said:
IMHO peak and program are marketing numbers that sound good but are meaningless. RMS is the only number you should trust. If a manufacturer won't give RMS, then don't trust them.
Click to expand...

but then again, RMS doesn't mean anything unless you know how the mfg. derives that figure.

What are they feeding into the amp?
What do they deem are acceptable distortion figures?
At what frequency response?
What are the burst rating capabilities?

It is just as easy to get duped at one rating then at the other. RMS is easier then some.
 
#11
You know that you're never going to overpower a cabinet, right? What is the wattage coming out of your amp 99.99% of the time? It's a fraction of rated power. What WILL blow your speakers is underpowering them. In order to get the volume that you want you'll keep turning up the volume on your amp until it runs out of headroom and pushes into clipping (distortion). That DC at the top and bottom of the wave is what melts your voicecoil.
 
#12
There is NO SUCH THING as underpowering a cab, what you are referring to is simply CLIPPING YOUR AMP (more specifically the power section)!

Also, it isnt DC, its a square edged waveform (hard clipping) with solid state amps.


Basically, as long as the cab is sounding ok, you should be fine, if it starts farting out or making other not too nice noises, be careful!
 
#13
jpark369 said:
ok so i get rms is steady amount of watts pumping, and peak is a loud burst, but program?

so, what does it mean when the description of a bass cab says:

1600 watts program power handling?
3200 watts peak?
nothing about rms?

does that mean the cab can do 1600 rms? or what? damn manufacturers and their confusing jargon!
Click to expand...
Those are voice coil thermal ratings and are not terribly useful. What counts is displacement limited power, which is on average around 20-50% of the RMS rating, beyond which the cab will distort severely. In common parlance, the cab will usually fart out long before the drivers are in danger of cooking. Ignore the sound of the fart at your own peril. :bawl:

What WILL blow your speakers is underpowering them. In order to get the volume that you want you'll keep turning up the volume on your amp until it runs out of headroom and pushes into clipping (distortion). That DC at the top and bottom of the wave is what melts your voicecoil.
Click to expand...
Absolutely positively untrue. Read this:
http://billfitzmaurice.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1886
 
#16
billfitzmaurice said:
Those are voice coil thermal ratings and are not terribly useful. What counts is displacement limited power, which is on average around 20-50% of the RMS rating, beyond which the cab will distort severely. In common parlance, the cab will usually fart out long before the drivers are in danger of cooking. Ignore the sound of the fart at your own peril. :bawl:

Absolutely positively untrue. Read this:
http://billfitzmaurice.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1886
Click to expand...

hey, I'd never read that piece of yours before. Great piece!
 
#17
billfitzmaurice said:
Absolutely positively untrue. Read this:
http://billfitzmaurice.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1886
Click to expand...

Oh? But you forgot the third way to damage a speaker. You can take the grill off of the cab, kick the cone as hard as you can, and spray beer into the voice coil. Didn't think of that one, did you? :smug:

Seriously though, great write-up! I think that this explanation of speaker damage will be understood by even the non-EE guys. Great job!
 
#18
onlyclave said:
You know that you're never going to overpower a cabinet, right? What is the wattage coming out of your amp 99.99% of the time? It's a fraction of rated power. What WILL blow your speakers is underpowering them. In order to get the volume that you want you'll keep turning up the volume on your amp until it runs out of headroom and pushes into clipping (distortion). That DC at the top and bottom of the wave is what melts your voicecoil.
Click to expand...

AHAHAHAH, wow, that's rich. Too much WATTAGE melts voicecoils - that's why they're given a thermal wattage rating. DC can also melt voice coils, but DC doesn't occur unless there is something going seriously wrong with the components in the output section. But, if you honestly think you can't overpower a cab, go run a Crown Macrotech bridged into a 1x10. Turn volume knobs all the way up, take the grill off, and aim the cab at your ex-wife. Hit an open E and see what happens. Ten points extra if the flying cone hits her in the face.
 
#19
Nick Kay said:
AHAHAHAH, wow, that's rich. Too much WATTAGE melts voicecoils - that's why they're given a thermal wattage rating. DC can also melt voice coils, but DC doesn't occur unless there is something going seriously wrong with the components in the output section. But, if you honestly think you can't overpower a cab, go run a Crown Macrotech bridged into a 1x10. Turn volume knobs all the way up, take the grill off, and aim the cab at your ex-wife. Hit an open E and see what happens. Ten points extra if the flying cone hits her in the face.
Click to expand...

LOL! I almost spit beer all over myself. You and I should start a thread on ways to destroy a speaker. :ninja:
 
#20
Warpeg said:
Oh? But you forgot the third way to damage a speaker. You can take the grill off of the cab, kick the cone as hard as you can, and spray beer into the voice coil. Didn't think of that one, did you? :smug:

Seriously though, great write-up! I think that this explanation of speaker damage will be understood by even the non-EE guys. Great job!
Click to expand...

The third most common reason for speaker failure: Guitarists



Thats all you needed to say :p
 
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