50 rms louder than 200rms?

**andruha1123** · 11-15-2009, 11:36 PM

Originally Posted by mrplix

It could realy be distortion, which makes the 50W amp sound loder. Are amp models the same?

Yes, both are the same brand, Pioneer, but one of them is new and the other one is about 6-7 years old

Also, can someone explain to me what 'distortion' exactly means?

**Dexamenus** · 11-15-2009, 11:59 PM

Originally Posted by andruha1123

Yes, both are the same brand, Pioneer, but one of them is new and the other one is about 6-7 years old

new one sounds louder? no surprises there....

**andruha1123** · 11-16-2009, 01:12 AM

Originally Posted by Dexamenus

new one sounds louder? no surprises there....

So, do you mean that 50 'new' rms should sound louder than 'old' 200rms?

**Dexamenus** · 11-16-2009, 01:18 AM

well from the info we have, anything could have happened to that sub over 7 years, degradation to the wires in the voice coil maybe, rust in the voice coil......

I just dont think you can compare a 7 year old sub with a new one and expect them to sound like you do even with different power ratings

**andruha1123** · 11-16-2009, 01:32 AM

Originally Posted by Dexamenus

well from the info we have, anything could have happened to that sub over 7 years, degradation to the wires in the voice coil maybe, rust in the voice coil......

I just dont think you can compare a 7 year old sub with a new one and expect them to sound like you do even with different power ratings

I'm actually talking about amps, not the sub :P
I just used the sub to test 2 amps

**Dexamenus** · 11-16-2009, 01:35 AM

Originally Posted by andruha1123

I'm actually talking about amps, not the sub :P
I just used the sub to test 2 amps

woops, my bad, that'll teach me to skim read........i still say that degradation could be a factor.

Hopefully some smarter people than me can help you out

**pulsarsimon** · 11-16-2009, 01:50 AM

6 or 7 years ago was before something called "CEA2006" power ratings. it was common for amplifiers to be rated higher than their actual output. if the older amp was 15 years old, it would likely be louder than the new one, for different but similar reasons.

distortion, in technical terms, is the difference between the sound going into the amp, and the sound coming out. In simple terms, it's when you tun it up loud and the sound goes fuzzy or breaks up.

**andruha1123** · 11-16-2009, 01:54 AM

Originally Posted by pulsarsimon

6 or 7 years ago was before something called "CES2008" power ratings. it was common for amplifiers to be rated higher than their actual output. if the older amp was 15 years old, it would likely be louder than the new one, for different but similar reasons.

distortion, in technical terms, is the difference between the sound going into the amp, and the sound coming out. In simple terms, it's when you tun it up loud and the sound goes fuzzy or breaks up.

Ok, that could be the reason.

Also, the new amp has a HIGH LEVEL input and the older amp (200rms) is connected to the new(50rms) output. Could this be the reason?

**andruha1123** · 11-16-2009, 01:54 AM

BTW, Thanks everyone for your input

**FPeter** · 11-16-2009, 03:53 AM

i think the key is the input sensitivity! for example, You have a 2Vrms line output from the soundcard, the 50W amp has 2Vrms line input and the 200W amp has 4Vrms line input. the result is that You need 2x high gain level on 200W amp to reach the same loudness! but if You have a matching output, this amp will kick the other! of course the smaller one will be distorted because of too high output level...