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Tech Tip Of The Day: Half Power
Is a 1000-watt amplifier really that much more powerful than a 500-watt amplifier?
Jul. 01, 2010, by PSW Staff
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Q: My buddy told me that if I go to a 500-watt power amp from a 1000-watt power amp, the volume will be half as loud.

But someone else said they are really about the same. Or, that the difference wouldn’t be large enough to notice.

Who’s right?

A: All other things being equal, and they rarely are, a 1000-watt power amp will indeed be ~3dB louder than a 500-watt amp.

As you’ve mentioned, 3dB is a noticeable difference, and is the standard difference used to define half power.

So, if you choose to use the 500-watt amplifier in lieu of the 1000-watt amplifier, you should expect to see a halving of your overall output assuming everything else actually is equal.

What do I mean? If your speakers couldn’t handle 1000-watts in the first place and you were running the 1000-watt amplifier at less than full power, you will obviously notice less of a difference, if any.

 
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Comments (3) Most recent displayed first
Posted by Robart Thomas  on  11/14/10  at  01:40 AM
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Posted by Lucas  on  07/29/10  at  11:08 PM
Thank you Bob for correcting the article about 3dB. The human ear can hear a difference of three dB that is the smallest incrament that the human ear can hear. 6dB is the standard for half volume NOT 3dB
Posted by Bob  on  07/01/10  at  12:02 PM
This is a very simplistic answer to a very complex question. There are so many "it depends" on this. IF you did have a speaker that could handle 1000 watts (even for short durations - several seconds) then the sound heard if 500 watts of power was supplied, indeed should be 3dB softer which is noticeable - but is NOT 1/2 as loud to the human ear. Approx. 10 dB difference is about 1/2 as loud to the human ear.

But amplifier sizing to speaker size is much more complicated since the dynamics of live music especially, means that the peak levels can be quite a bit higher (2-4X) the "continuous" rating of the speaker - hence you'll see terms like "RMS", "Program", "Max", "Peak" power ratings on speakers. Typically, sizing the amplifier to be 2-3x the "continuous ratings" or AT LEAST be equal to the "Program" rating is recommended - but even that is a generalization and depends on how the speaker manufacturer rates the speakers.

There are additional resources/articles on the PSW that explores this in much more detail and more eloquently then this.

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