Speaker question

[zac362]

Hi,

Just a quick question if anyone can help, I'm looking at pa speakers and my knowledge of the subject isn't fantastic.

i keep seeing the wattage described with two numbers for example: 300 Watts RMS continuous, 600 Watts program

i have no idea what that means, is it 300 or 600?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

cheers Zac.

[bertbass]

That's 300w RMS or 600w program. That means that the speaker is supposed to handle 300w of continuous power, such as a signal generator and 600w of music content where the volume of the music is not constant. I'd take both ratings with a pinch of salt myself.

[zac362]

so in theory then, could that speaker handle 500w if it was a live band?

[bertbass]

In theory, yes. If it's for PA then no problem as you'll never get the PA more than 1/2 volume anyway. It's bass that can kill speakers, the lower the notes, the further the speakers move in and out. The best thing is to use your ears, if it sounds distorted, turn it down or reduce the bass or both.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1331570421' post='1575027']
I'd take both ratings with a pinch of salt myself.
[/quote] A truckload is more like it. What consumers are most interested in is how loud they go, be it PA or bass cabs. Wattage doesn't tell you that. SPL charted frequency response, sensitivity, and driver displacement do. Many PA manfacturers provide all of that data, as opposed to the electric bass cab industry, where none do. Of course it's the higher end goods that are best documented.

[zac362]

thanks a lot for the replies, helped me out a lot

Zac

[leftybassman392]

One other point - if you're planning to put bass and/or kick drum through the P.A. you might want to consider getting some subs (subwoofers). They handle the lowest frequencies and take the load off the main speakers (which means you can run the entire system louder before it starts to break up).