A lot of people are confused over wattage ratings and how loud an amp or speakers will sound. Watts and their loudness are not linear, in other words a rating of10 watts is not ten times louder than 1 watt. It is in fact only twice as loud! If we go further, 100 watts is twice as loud as 10 watts. From this you can see that 100 watts is only four, yes four, times louder than 1 measily little watt. Multiply the watts again and 1000 watts is twice as loud as 100 watts. Therefore, believe it or not, 1000 watts is just eight times louder than our original 1 watt. It is not 1000 times louder. If that was the case, you would blow your eardrums out of your. . . where-ever! So, for every "0" you add to the wattage it simply doubles the loudness.
What are decibels? Decibels or dbs are simply a reference point from which to start, calculated from using certain complex electronic parameters. For the point of this guide, lets say our 100 watt speaker flat out gives us 90 dbs sound output. To become twice as loud we need to have a further 3dbs, i.e. 93 dbs. We already know that equates to 1000 watts from earlier. For every doubling of the loudness, we increase the dbs by a further 3.
So to recap, lets start off with a small amp with an output of 1 watt, lets say, and call that equal to84dbs- to get twice the volume (loudness) we shall need 10 watts, therefore, 87dbs (84 3) - to become four times louder than our original 1 watt we shall need 100 watts which is now equal to 90dbs and then for a real blaster of a system we go to eight times our original sound volumeto 1000 watts and therefore, 93dbs, and so it goes on.
Don't be mislead when your mate reckons his amp of 500 watts output is so much louder than your measily 400 watt system. Human ears are very unlikely to be able to hear the difference. You would need sophisticated sound pressure measuring equipment to see the difference on a meter.
More important than wattage are the distortion figures. Better to opt for a lower distortion amp than a higher wattage output unit. You need to spend a lot more money for the quality "low distortion with high wattage" amplifier.
Happy eBaying.
Check out the amps and don't be afraid to ask for the "figures" from your seller. If he doesn't know or isn't sure, be careful, buy from someone who can give you the truthful figures i.e. a bonafide eBay shop specialising in the product. Your system will sound all the better for it.
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