Trying to figure out how many watts are reaching speakers
#13
02-27-2016, 11:37 AM
Ok so I took a new measurement. I put the pos dmm lead on the pos right speaker spade and the neg dmm lead on the left speaker spade and it read 26.7. That's more what I was expecting. I probably should have done this in the beginning where I had the pos dmm lead on the right speaker pos spade and the neg dmm lead to the left speaker neg spade because the amp is bridged. Does that make sense?
#14
02-27-2016, 08:00 PM
Stellar HDF Member
Are you trying to measure total delivered amplifier power or amplifier power to each speaker?
Next you have to ascertain whether your DMM is measuring and displaying AC voltage as peak power or RMS. If it's measuring RMS and you want to calculate it as peak power then multiply the DMM's reading by 1.4141, if your DMM is displaying in PEAK and you want the RMS value, then multiply by 0.7071.
The rest of the formula to calculate wattage is easy, multiply your voltage by your voltage (ie. 26.7 x 26.7) and divide that answer (712.89) by your speaker's impedance, in this case 4 ohms. You will get the answer in watts delivered, in this case 178.2225 Watts, measured at the terminal nodes you chose.
When adjusting gains, it's best to use an oscilloscope rather than a DMM placed on the speaker terminals. That way you can adjust the gain until you see the audio waveform peaks starting to distort. At this point you can back the gain down a smidgen and you will now have set the gain as precisely as can be. There are some caveats to this when setting gains on amplifiers that also have a 'Slope' or 'Tilt' trimmer. That is because most people will set gains at 1 kHz, however most amplifiers are a little more efficient at lower frequencies, or the speaker impedance might drop off a little. This causes the base notes to distort or sound muddy even the the higher tones are clear. A tilt trimmer will literally tilt your gain away at the lower end of the audio spectrum and increase it at the higher end. In other cases amps will have a pass filter that allows you to cut off the lower notes that will consume power from your amp, distort, and otherwise not be fully passed on to a speaker that couldn't possibly reproduce such a low frequency anyhow.
Next you have to ascertain whether your DMM is measuring and displaying AC voltage as peak power or RMS. If it's measuring RMS and you want to calculate it as peak power then multiply the DMM's reading by 1.4141, if your DMM is displaying in PEAK and you want the RMS value, then multiply by 0.7071.
The rest of the formula to calculate wattage is easy, multiply your voltage by your voltage (ie. 26.7 x 26.7) and divide that answer (712.89) by your speaker's impedance, in this case 4 ohms. You will get the answer in watts delivered, in this case 178.2225 Watts, measured at the terminal nodes you chose.
When adjusting gains, it's best to use an oscilloscope rather than a DMM placed on the speaker terminals. That way you can adjust the gain until you see the audio waveform peaks starting to distort. At this point you can back the gain down a smidgen and you will now have set the gain as precisely as can be. There are some caveats to this when setting gains on amplifiers that also have a 'Slope' or 'Tilt' trimmer. That is because most people will set gains at 1 kHz, however most amplifiers are a little more efficient at lower frequencies, or the speaker impedance might drop off a little. This causes the base notes to distort or sound muddy even the the higher tones are clear. A tilt trimmer will literally tilt your gain away at the lower end of the audio spectrum and increase it at the higher end. In other cases amps will have a pass filter that allows you to cut off the lower notes that will consume power from your amp, distort, and otherwise not be fully passed on to a speaker that couldn't possibly reproduce such a low frequency anyhow.
#15
02-27-2016, 10:58 PM
Are you trying to measure total delivered amplifier power or amplifier power to each speaker?
Next you have to ascertain whether your DMM is measuring and displaying AC voltage as peak power or RMS. If it's measuring RMS and you want to calculate it as peak power then multiply the DMM's reading by 1.4141, if your DMM is displaying in PEAK and you want the RMS value, then multiply by 0.7071.
The rest of the formula to calculate wattage is easy, multiply your voltage by your voltage (ie. 26.7 x 26.7) and divide that answer (712.89) by your speaker's impedance, in this case 4 ohms. You will get the answer in watts delivered, in this case 178.2225 Watts, measured at the terminal nodes you chose.
When adjusting gains, it's best to use an oscilloscope rather than a DMM placed on the speaker terminals. That way you can adjust the gain until you see the audio waveform peaks starting to distort. At this point you can back the gain down a smidgen and you will now have set the gain as precisely as can be. There are some caveats to this when setting gains on amplifiers that also have a 'Slope' or 'Tilt' trimmer. That is because most people will set gains at 1 kHz, however most amplifiers are a little more efficient at lower frequencies, or the speaker impedance might drop off a little. This causes the base notes to distort or sound muddy even the the higher tones are clear. A tilt trimmer will literally tilt your gain away at the lower end of the audio spectrum and increase it at the higher end. In other cases amps will have a pass filter that allows you to cut off the lower notes that will consume power from your amp, distort, and otherwise not be fully passed on to a speaker that couldn't possibly reproduce such a low frequency anyhow.
Next you have to ascertain whether your DMM is measuring and displaying AC voltage as peak power or RMS. If it's measuring RMS and you want to calculate it as peak power then multiply the DMM's reading by 1.4141, if your DMM is displaying in PEAK and you want the RMS value, then multiply by 0.7071.
The rest of the formula to calculate wattage is easy, multiply your voltage by your voltage (ie. 26.7 x 26.7) and divide that answer (712.89) by your speaker's impedance, in this case 4 ohms. You will get the answer in watts delivered, in this case 178.2225 Watts, measured at the terminal nodes you chose.
When adjusting gains, it's best to use an oscilloscope rather than a DMM placed on the speaker terminals. That way you can adjust the gain until you see the audio waveform peaks starting to distort. At this point you can back the gain down a smidgen and you will now have set the gain as precisely as can be. There are some caveats to this when setting gains on amplifiers that also have a 'Slope' or 'Tilt' trimmer. That is because most people will set gains at 1 kHz, however most amplifiers are a little more efficient at lower frequencies, or the speaker impedance might drop off a little. This causes the base notes to distort or sound muddy even the the higher tones are clear. A tilt trimmer will literally tilt your gain away at the lower end of the audio spectrum and increase it at the higher end. In other cases amps will have a pass filter that allows you to cut off the lower notes that will consume power from your amp, distort, and otherwise not be fully passed on to a speaker that couldn't possibly reproduce such a low frequency anyhow.
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T-G (02-03-2021)
#16
02-28-2016, 08:16 PM
Outstanding HDF Member
Are you trying to measure total delivered amplifier power or amplifier power to each speaker?
Next you have to ascertain whether your DMM is measuring and displaying AC voltage as peak power or RMS. If it's measuring RMS and you want to calculate it as peak power then multiply the DMM's reading by 1.4141, if your DMM is displaying in PEAK and you want the RMS value, then multiply by 0.7071.
The rest of the formula to calculate wattage is easy, multiply your voltage by your voltage (ie. 26.7 x 26.7) and divide that answer (712.89) by your speaker's impedance, in this case 4 ohms. You will get the answer in watts delivered, in this case 178.2225 Watts, measured at the terminal nodes you chose.
When adjusting gains, it's best to use an oscilloscope rather than a DMM placed on the speaker terminals. That way you can adjust the gain until you see the audio waveform peaks starting to distort. At this point you can back the gain down a smidgen and you will now have set the gain as precisely as can be. There are some caveats to this when setting gains on amplifiers that also have a 'Slope' or 'Tilt' trimmer. That is because most people will set gains at 1 kHz, however most amplifiers are a little more efficient at lower frequencies, or the speaker impedance might drop off a little. This causes the base notes to distort or sound muddy even the the higher tones are clear. A tilt trimmer will literally tilt your gain away at the lower end of the audio spectrum and increase it at the higher end. In other cases amps will have a pass filter that allows you to cut off the lower notes that will consume power from your amp, distort, and otherwise not be fully passed on to a speaker that couldn't possibly reproduce such a low frequency anyhow.
Next you have to ascertain whether your DMM is measuring and displaying AC voltage as peak power or RMS. If it's measuring RMS and you want to calculate it as peak power then multiply the DMM's reading by 1.4141, if your DMM is displaying in PEAK and you want the RMS value, then multiply by 0.7071.
The rest of the formula to calculate wattage is easy, multiply your voltage by your voltage (ie. 26.7 x 26.7) and divide that answer (712.89) by your speaker's impedance, in this case 4 ohms. You will get the answer in watts delivered, in this case 178.2225 Watts, measured at the terminal nodes you chose.
When adjusting gains, it's best to use an oscilloscope rather than a DMM placed on the speaker terminals. That way you can adjust the gain until you see the audio waveform peaks starting to distort. At this point you can back the gain down a smidgen and you will now have set the gain as precisely as can be. There are some caveats to this when setting gains on amplifiers that also have a 'Slope' or 'Tilt' trimmer. That is because most people will set gains at 1 kHz, however most amplifiers are a little more efficient at lower frequencies, or the speaker impedance might drop off a little. This causes the base notes to distort or sound muddy even the the higher tones are clear. A tilt trimmer will literally tilt your gain away at the lower end of the audio spectrum and increase it at the higher end. In other cases amps will have a pass filter that allows you to cut off the lower notes that will consume power from your amp, distort, and otherwise not be fully passed on to a speaker that couldn't possibly reproduce such a low frequency anyhow.
Kris
#17
02-29-2016, 08:40 PM
#18
07-01-2017, 10:24 AM
Tourer
Are you trying to measure total delivered amplifier power or amplifier power to each speaker?
Next you have to ascertain whether your DMM is measuring and displaying AC voltage as peak power or RMS. If it's measuring RMS and you want to calculate it as peak power then multiply the DMM's reading by 1.4141, if your DMM is displaying in PEAK and you want the RMS value, then multiply by 0.7071.
The rest of the formula to calculate wattage is easy, multiply your voltage by your voltage (ie. 26.7 x 26.7) and divide that answer (712.89) by your speaker's impedance, in this case 4 ohms. You will get the answer in watts delivered, in this case 178.2225 Watts, measured at the terminal nodes you chose.
When adjusting gains, it's best to use an oscilloscope rather than a DMM placed on the speaker terminals. That way you can adjust the gain until you see the audio waveform peaks starting to distort. At this point you can back the gain down a smidgen and you will now have set the gain as precisely as can be. There are some caveats to this when setting gains on amplifiers that also have a 'Slope' or 'Tilt' trimmer. That is because most people will set gains at 1 kHz, however most amplifiers are a little more efficient at lower frequencies, or the speaker impedance might drop off a little. This causes the base notes to distort or sound muddy even the the higher tones are clear. A tilt trimmer will literally tilt your gain away at the lower end of the audio spectrum and increase it at the higher end. In other cases amps will have a pass filter that allows you to cut off the lower notes that will consume power from your amp, distort, and otherwise not be fully passed on to a speaker that couldn't possibly reproduce such a low frequency anyhow.
Next you have to ascertain whether your DMM is measuring and displaying AC voltage as peak power or RMS. If it's measuring RMS and you want to calculate it as peak power then multiply the DMM's reading by 1.4141, if your DMM is displaying in PEAK and you want the RMS value, then multiply by 0.7071.
The rest of the formula to calculate wattage is easy, multiply your voltage by your voltage (ie. 26.7 x 26.7) and divide that answer (712.89) by your speaker's impedance, in this case 4 ohms. You will get the answer in watts delivered, in this case 178.2225 Watts, measured at the terminal nodes you chose.
When adjusting gains, it's best to use an oscilloscope rather than a DMM placed on the speaker terminals. That way you can adjust the gain until you see the audio waveform peaks starting to distort. At this point you can back the gain down a smidgen and you will now have set the gain as precisely as can be. There are some caveats to this when setting gains on amplifiers that also have a 'Slope' or 'Tilt' trimmer. That is because most people will set gains at 1 kHz, however most amplifiers are a little more efficient at lower frequencies, or the speaker impedance might drop off a little. This causes the base notes to distort or sound muddy even the the higher tones are clear. A tilt trimmer will literally tilt your gain away at the lower end of the audio spectrum and increase it at the higher end. In other cases amps will have a pass filter that allows you to cut off the lower notes that will consume power from your amp, distort, and otherwise not be fully passed on to a speaker that couldn't possibly reproduce such a low frequency anyhow.
But yeah, dead on.
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