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Topic: ok guys amps - Page: 1

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guys just wanted to know what does the rms and max mean on amplifiers.also on the bridge you get more power how.and wjich amps give you at least 100w at 8ohms thanks
 
Posted Thu 08 Jan 09 @ 8:47 am
your best bet would be to go to a music store and shop around. I was looking for speakers. did all the forum and website reseach i could and made it to sam ash and saw they had choices i knew nothing about. told the guy working there what i needed and he hooked me up for half the price of what i researched
 
djstaffy wrote :
guys just wanted to know what does the rms and max mean on amplifiers.also on the bridge you get more power how.and wjich amps give you at least 1000w at 8ohms thanks
 
I was gonna say 100w per side!

I don't think you will need 1000w per side at 8 ohms, 800w per side would be nice. You wont get a digital amp with this power unless you get the Crown IT4000 or something but then your talking serious money maybe try QSC PLX series amps.
 
so what does the rms amd max mean.and was thinking of a crown amplifier pricey but good
 
from what i remember rms is the level you will get consistant sound quality, so for a 1k amp you may get 600w of rms sound.

peak is the most power it will put out for a limited time.

i may be wrong
 
thanks mate.that doesnt mean you have to run it full to get best sound.i never let my amps clip
 
it's complicated and i know i don't understand

rms means root mean square ......in electronics it has to do with a average quantity of output ( from your amp) to a specified load (ohms of the speakers)

peak i think your 1000w amp the peak is 1000 ( not sure if it can exceed that) the rms will probably be 600 or 700w , that's a quess

i'm fairly sure that it would be ok to think of the rms wattage as the real usable number .......

ask an expert ... when you bridge i believe you daisy chain the stereo amps into mono and can double the output under the right conditions ......
 
Often when you bridge and daisy chain amps, and speakers though you change from a 4 ohm to an 8 ohm, or visa versa. Chuck is right, I would seek out an expert and get their advice..the math gives me a headache. Thats why I use all active speakers..
 
Yes, RMS is the mean power you can costantly push out of the speaker.

With audio stuff it's often tricky to know which kind of power is labeled on the device. Sometimes it means peak-to-peak power, sometimes audio power and sometimes RMS power. The latter is the best power quality index ;-)
 
RMS is your constant, all through the show, real world power. Peak is what you hear when you have a LOUD spike. Peak is the MAX.

With amps, you really don't worry about rms and peak. Amps put out POWER. Speakers are where you go into rms and peak.

You want an amp that is slightly more powerful than your speakers. If a speaker is rated at 500w rms 1000w peak at 8ohms, you want a amp that can push out 500w to 650w. As long as the speaker is getting CLEAN power, your speakers will be fine. IT'S DISTORTION THAT BLOWS SPEAKERS. UNDER POWERING SPEAKERS CAUSES DISTORTION!!! A speaker rated at 500w rms @ 8ohms can handle about 600 to 650w CLEAN POWER. (But match your speakers and amps up)

ALWAYS RUN YOUR AMP WIDE OPEN. Speakers get blown not from too much power but from under powering and distortion (happens when speakers are under powered). You control your levels with your other components (mixer, eq, x-over, compressor, mixing board) NOT your amp.

Crown and QSC are the BEST amps on the market.

Let me explain Bridging an amp and what it's used for.

Speakers generally come in 8ohms or 4 ohms. Amps generally put out one amount of power at 8ohms, 4ohms and some all the way down to 2 ohms. If you have a 2 speakers rated at 500w @8ohms and you chain them together, you will have a 1000w 4ohm load. Your amp will "see" 4 ohms and put out the power for that 4 ohm load.

Bridge is when you have the amp set for it's max output set up for 1 speaker. Example. You have a 3000w Subwoofer. You can Bridge your amp to deliver the 3000w that sub needs. (provided you have a amp that has 3000w bridged power).

Most of us DJ's don't really need to worry about bridging amps especially if you have your system power balanced between your amps and speakers as stated above.

Hope this helps. Any questions, feel free to ask.
 
excellent explanation city thank you.i was always weary of blowing speakers amps ect never pushed them to far but know i understand why djs higher amps up all the way.plus just got what it means to go from 8ohms to 4ohms.your amp actually sees what you have connected and does the job for you eg as above.thanks guys for your help.just have to wait for money know for my new amp lol
 
DJ CITY, i have a question, what would you say the best way to get performance out of your speakers.

What i mean is, turn the level all the way up on the amp and post DJ Mixer (where i mix in my auxilary and mic--Behringer xenyx 502) and then just control the level with the dj mixer, or what configuration.

Would you also like to recommend a good power conditioner because from your post it would seem that they are necesarry
 
burd691 wrote :
DJ CITY, i have a question, what would you say the best way to get performance out of your speakers.

What i mean is, turn the level all the way up on the amp and post DJ Mixer (where i mix in my auxilary and mic--Behringer xenyx 502) and then just control the level with the dj mixer, or what configuration.

Would you also like to recommend a good power conditioner because from your post it would seem that they are necesarry


You turn the gains on the AMP all the way up. You control your signal with everything else that comes BEFORE the amp eg mixers, X-overs,compressors, EQ. On your mixers weather DJ mixer and or mixing board, you do not want to max them out. You will need and want the headroom that these masters provide.

The best way to get the most out of your speakers is to give them enough power. If you can afford it, the dbx Driverack is a GREAT piece of equipment. The Driverack has a X-over, compressor, limiter, gate, EQ, and has pre settings for some speakers and amps so all you need to do is dial in your equipment and there ya go.

If not, you want to get a X-Over if you have subs and tops, a compressor to tighten your sound, a good EQ even though you will usually run your EQ flat, and a sonic maximizer.

As far as power conditioners, most are good. You get what you pay for.

Hope this helps.
 
thanks, my subs got a built in crossover, i was thinking about a compressor, out of all of those things if i could only afford one which would be most beneficial to getting more sound out of my stuff (not necesarially better just LOUDER) cuz im doing a dance that i might be a lil shy on power.... and what does a sonic maximizer do??
 
Sonic maximizer brings out ALL the sound. I can't explain it very good.

I went to Guitar Ctr and the sales rep told me about the sonic maximizer. He had me listen to the best speakers he had and they sounded great.

Then he turned on the sonic maximizer and the same speakers sounded fantastic, super fantastic.

He let me listen to them for like 4 minutes, then turned the sonic maximizer off.

They same speakers that I had just heard that sounded great before the sonic maximizer now sounded like some garbage.

No changes except for the sonic maximizer.

Great speakers sound extra great with a sonic maximizer. It deepens the bass, clears up the highs, sharpens your sound.

If you can, go to your local music store and listen to one.
 
djcity wrote :
You turn the gains on the AMP all the way up. You control your signal with everything else that comes BEFORE the amp eg mixers, X-overs,compressors, EQ. On your mixers weather DJ mixer and or mixing board, you do not want to max them out. You will need and want the headroom that these masters provide.


I disagree on this one. Don't get me wrong, but I have seen that a stupid cable has a short and the amp amplified the short sound to full power and blown any speaker connected. After see that, I change the way that I used to set my settings.

I set the mixer (whit a reference track) to 0db, then the EQ to -3db, and then to my Drive Rack 260 to -3db. Then to set the amps, I start to raise the gain just when the clip led barely lights, then decrease the level a little, then the second amp and then the third one.

The sound its incredible good, there is no difference since I used to -15db aprox. and now almost at 0db, and if I get a short, I'm sure that there will be a very low probabilities of a blown speaker.
 
Ricardo,

I understand where you are coming from. Having a bad cable is not something that usually happens especially if you are rack mounted and do not disconnect and re-connect your cables and you use quality cables to start with.

You want to constrict and control your SIGNAL, not your POWER.

It's like a car or a motorcycle. You can drive a fast car slowly or ride a fast bike slowly but you need the power available, even if you do not plan on using it all.

The speakers want "X" amount of power. If your amp has it, provide it. Let your compressor, EQ, and if you use one, sonic maximizer do their job of shaping the sound and controlling the signal but let the amp provide the power the speakers need.

A good way to "see" what you are doing if you don't know about db's is to check the lights on your components. A lot of DJ's think the lights are there just to look pretty.

RED means stop
Yellow means caution and
GREEN means Good to go.

If you can get all your lights to green with your amp wide open you are good. That is the reason to have a powerful power amp. Some amps, in fact most amps are good if you just touch the red light during the bass kick. NOT TO HAVE THE RED LIGHT ON ALL THE TIME. Just to barely touch the red when the bass kicks.

It's good to start with all your levels flat, All masters down. Power up, Turn amps up to full power, THEN come up on your signal, tweaking your components as you go to achieve your green lights AND volume safely.

To power down do the opposite.

Turn all signals all the way down, turn amps all the way down, then power down.

High end amps do not require you to turn the gains down before you power down but it's a good practice.
 
ok here is a question then.... what about set up of powered speakers should the speaker be cranked up and mixing board control sound?
 
I don't have enough experience with powered speakers to give an opinion however everyone i've seen use them do NOT have the gains all the way up.

Don't know why though.
 
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