Blog
Peak Vs. Continuous Watts
Learn the difference between these two amplifier power ratings
In our experience, peak power is generally used as a marketing ploy to sell subwoofers or amplifiers. It’s a much hackneyed technical description. So, I’ll give you an example. We have a piece that’s 1000 watt amplifier. It is alleged to be able to handle 1700 Watts on peak. Awesome. What we really need to be able to do, and this speaks to the ownership experience and not just whether it can play massively loud for very brief periods of time.
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We insist on these things, being able to do this for hours and hours and hours on end. It’s the only way we know to make sure or that our amplifiers and our drivers are as a robust as they need to be for longterm ownership.
So we rate our pieces extremely conservatively and we do it because we know that’s what actually matters in the real world. Having a momentary joy ride is great. If you’re a car guy, it’s a little bit like having nitrous oxide in your car and you push a button and your motor suddenly turns into an 800 horsepower raving maniac.
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And, it does that until you blow the motor up about 20 seconds later if it’s not designed to do that. It’s much more important for us, that we have quality that’s reliable, durable, and robust, that will last for 10, 15, 20 years of enjoyment.