power question

higgins79

ok i had a question abou the power on my onkyo and that got answered. its not as powerfull as the specs say. now how do the different manufactures test this stuff. if i look at a harmon kardon is their power ratings acurate or do they test the way onkyo does making the numbers less than they say? so if returned my onkyo 803 which apearently does not give out 105 watts per channel and picked up a harmon kardon 7300 which does 110 am i in the same boat or does that thing actually put out as much as it says.

aaharvel

100wpc x5 1 channel driven @ 1khz.
100wpc x5 2channels driven @ 1khz.
100wpc x5 all channels driven @ 1khz.

100wpc x5 1 channel driven 20hz-20khz
100wpc x5 2channels driven 20hz-20khz
100wpc x5 all channels driven 20hz-20khz

not to mention the H/K has larger primary & secondary power supplies and prob. has twice the current of the Onkyo.

John K.

Higgins, all receivers/amplifiers advertised for sale in the U.S. have to be tested and rated for maximum power according to regulations adopted by the FTC(Federal Trade Commission). Basically, multi-channel units are required to test with two-channels driven simultaneously at full rated power for at least five consecutive minutes. The resulting power rating has to be accurate; otherwise the manufacturer would be in violation of the law. A complaint could be filed with the FTC(even online), and manufacturers would be foolish to be in violation. These units are often tested for power by audio magazines, and those tests confirm that the rated power(usually with the required two channels driven simultaneously rating) is in fact delivered. So, you can be confident that the 105 watt rating on your 803 is accurate.

Some manufacturers(e.g. HK)choose to rate their units with all channels(rather than two)driven simultaneously. This results in a lower number than the two channel rating and represents an unrealistically severe situation in that simultaneous operation of all channels at full power for five minutes doesn't occur in home use, just when tested in the laboratory. So, both the Onkyo and HK ratings are accurate, but apply to different numbers of channels operated simultaneously at full power. Keep in mind that your speakers will use about 1 watt at a comfortably loud average level , and it's unlikely that even brief peaks(e.g. using 100 watts) would exceed the capability of your 803, so you almost certainly have no good reason for concern.

higgins79

thanks i was getting confused with some of the posts. i was getting different answers from different people on what the true power of these units are. i had originally asked if the onkyo 803 would be able to power a set of rti12s as my fronts in my surround sound set up (at some point i will get an amp other than the 282 i have to push these) but someone said it only actually puts out 18 or 20 so watts when driving all the speakers. i don't get all that ohm and htz stuff so i figured this would be the place to ask. but at anyrate i got a small room not alot of space for equipment. if i am actually getting the wattage as stated by the manufacturer will they power the speakers without underpowering them. also as a side note, the post above seems to lean toward the hk would that be a better choice for me than the 803. i still got time to return it if thats the case. ( i can get the hk 7300 through acomidations so the price difference isn't an issue between these 2 units)