Audio power is the electrical power transferred from an audio amplifier to a loudspeaker, measured in watts. The electrical power delivered to the loudspeaker, together with its sensitivity, determines the sound power level generated (with the rest being converted to heat).
Amplifiers are limited in the electrical energy they can amplify, while loudspeakers are limited in the electrical energy they can convert to sound energy without distorting the audio signal or damaging themselves. These power ratings are important to consumers finding compatible products and comparing competitors.
Read more about Audio Power: Power Handling, Power Calculations, Continuous Power, Peak Power, Total System Power, Sine Wave Power, PMPO, Power and Loudness in The Real World, 'Music Power' — The Real Issues, Matching Amplifier To Loudspeaker, Power Handling in 'active' Speakers
Famous quotes containing the word power:
“Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many.... The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from the sense of their inadequacy and impotence. They hate not wickedness but weakness. When it is in their power to do so, the weak destroy weakness wherever they see it.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)