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[johnt]

K right to business,

I have (2)  250 rms, 500 music(im assuming this means continuous), and 1000 peak watts Speakers. I recently purchased an amp that has a Spec on it saying Maximum power Stereo at 8 ohms is 500W, now it also says Contiuous out power stereo mode 20hz to 20khz 8 ohms is 110w x2  which would seriously underdrive the speakers which i don't want to do.
So i asked around and apparently the amp is really only capable of 110w x2 at 8 Ohm.....my question is this ?  What is that Maximum power spec there for ? Its the Pyramid Pa1000x Power amp. whats the spec i am looking for when trying to drive these 500w 8 ohm puppies ? I appreciate any feedback as I am fairly new at putting these things together.

Thanks,
John

[Al Limberg]

Hi John,
Pyramid provides the spec to suck in the unsuspecting and make their amplifier sound like a whole lot more than it is.  Don't feel too bad - I'm betting you're not the first and surely not the last guy to get caught in that little scam.  ASSuming your speakers aren't Pyramid or Pyle but a reputable brand name, I would shoot for an amp rated in the 500w per channel @ 8 ohm range.  When it comes to this sort of gear, I would highly recommend sticking with a well known professional brand.  Crown, QSC, and Crest all offer budget lines, and Peavey and Yamaha both offer viable alternatives with trusted service available practically everywhere.  If a company is willing to put that sort of BS in print, it doesn't bode well for what they will do for you in a time of need.

JMHO,
Al

[Bennett Prescott]

Hear hear, Al! I freely admit to falling into the same trap, although I believe my amp was a Pyle Pro (if there's even a difference). 1000 watts turned out to be nowhere near the unit's actual output. Not only that, it would simply shut off when clipped, even while driving one 8 ohm load per channel, for about 5 seconds before re-engaging.
I've since upgraded to "pro" level amps, but if I were you I'd grab a Crest CPX or QSC RMX, both of which sound great and are rugged, inexpensive, yet respectable amps. Peavey also makes amps in that price range that are quite good...

[bgavin (Bruce Gavin)]

In the early 1960's, my Dad used to marvel at the inflated claims of power amps.  He used to service my old 6L6-powered Sears Silvertone amp that was "rated" at 100 watts.  He said a 6L6 wasn't good for anything more than 15 watts each.

[John Roberts {JR}]

Indeed. The rampant overstatement of power ratings back in those days led the FTC to establish the 1/3 power preconditioning rules and definitions. This made consumer power ratings much more conservative, it probably also led to a certain amount of over design for the typical application.

We are still without a very concise metric for specifying thermal capacity or thermal headroom due to the significant variations between music genres or operator practices, but this is one of several differences between value and higher end offerings from a single manufacturer.

JR