thats true but you cant measure the amps power consumption to determine its output power - step up transformers are innefficient and you also lose a lot of power to heat.

To get a real wattage reading take the voltage at the amplifier output while tapped to a 4 or 2ohm coil and divide by this formula:

Volts^2 / Ohms = Watts

Doing that you get the actual power thats being delivered to your sub.

 

EDIT: re-read voltage at the amp OUTPUT. Yea, but how does one determine a try to determine wattage w/o hooking up a sub (don't want to blow a sub up to find out how many watts the amp can push)

Also, with the formula I stated earlier, it was a maximum theoretical output of an amp. That means with those facts, the amp cannot pull more current (amperes) than its fuses w/o popping them. Therefore the abosolute maximum power output cannot be larger than its input right?

 

Two 8 ohm 1000watt copper coils from radioshack - drop them in distilled water and have at it. I have managed to shatter 3 or 4 glasses with this method.

Peak current can exceed the fuse rating as automotive and maxi fuses have very leniant tolerances example: a 30 amp blade fuse has +20% @ 5 second / +50% @ 1 second etc..

The fuses dont instantly blow at their rated capacity - Since each manufacturer has its own tolerances it would be very difficult to use that as an accurate gauge.

 

Agreed, it's not gospel, but it can put a ballpark number, and it makes for a good time when someone has a 2000 watt amp with a 10 amp fuse in it.

 

 

Ahh, makes sense now. Max output can exceed fuse rating for short burts but not for continous power.

Hehe, when I get my amp, I'll try the glass idea. I now know why you're going into electrical engineering.

93ex, you got exactly what I was trying to say...