how do car amplifiers produce 2000 watts? :S

[admin_exported]

this is something which has been bugging me for ages, and i have argued many times with people that its complete rubbish.

my understanding (a-level physics) is that for an amp to produce 1000 watts in a car, the current through the battery has to be something silly like 90 amperes, and this would turn the cables into something like a toaster element

i can see how mains amps can produce high wattage because its capable of delivering 3000+ watts.

I know im probably wrong, but can anyone correct me please

 

[Paul.]

The good systems use MASSIVE capacitors. This is where the power comes form, not the batteries. Also, car amp manufactureres are a little fast and loose with their specs, they don't use RMS like the hifi industry (root means squared, kinda like the standard deviation, its a bit a smarter than an average calculation) for its wattage, they tend to use things like PMPO (peak output). PMPO can be anywhere up to four times higher than RMS wattage.

 

[Andrew Everard]

They also quote specs allowing for much higher distortion than is common in home hi-fi, usually at a single frequency (1kHz) rather than across the normal 20Hz-20kHz+ range, and of course into lower impedances – most car speakers are 4ohm or less.

 

[Big Chris]

this is something which has been bugging me for ages....

Big capacitors, 0 gauge cabling and a boot full of Optima yellow tops.
🙂

 

[audioaffair]

...and they are usually Class D so very efficient with much of the energy turning into sound rather than heat - in class D designs, generally 90% + of energy turns into sound with the remainder in heat, but in class AB designs this can be 70/30 (and even more in class A and valve amps which get very hot)