What is the difference?Sub Amps

[Dombo]

Subwoofers come with amps and some are 525 watts (the SV Sub I'm looking at) and the Klipsch are like 2400 watts (RSW). What does that mean. Could someone tell me why a higher number of watts is better or worse? I am interested in an SV PC+, it has a 525 watt BASH amp. Am I lossing something by not going with a higher amp? I don't fully understand how subs handle power so any input would be great. Thanks

[prodj101]

a higher power amp will play the bass louder and cleaner than a lower powered one in most cases, however, you stated that the klipsch amps are 2400 watts, but that is burst power, not RMS, and RMS is what really counts. The klipsch RSW amps are 650 RMS, which is plenty of power, more than you'd probably ever need. The 650 watts in the RSW would not even be noticably more powerful than the 500 (about) in the SVS, since you have to double the power of the amplifier to gain 3 db of output. the 2400 watt rating is for short periods. So, if a bomb in a movie suddenly goes off, and it takes the sub to 2400 watts (rare), it would be ok, but if you have it playing at this level for any longer periods of time, you'll burn it out. I hope this helps.

[fabulousfrankie]

What I wanted to say is already summed up by SVS' FAQ page.

Whats better about SVS?

Most importantly, from a sonic standpoint, is significantly greater internal enclosure volume than most other subs (yet still in a well proportioned cylinder). This allows us to make our products tremendously efficient. Some subs require equalization to run strong down low, often about 6dBs below 30Hz, sometimes many times more than that! There is nothing wrong with this approach to producing good bass, but it does significantly cut effective amp power. Each 3dB boost of broad-band bass roughly halves the effective power of any given amp. So with a 6dB boost down low, a 500-watt amp acts very much like a 125-watt amp. If you are starting with a 150 watt amp? Well, you can do the math. This explains why many commercial subs need megawatts to perform well. Again, our subs run very flat to their tuning points with no equalization, (though it can be added if you want to tweak your SVS's too). In short, if you use a 300-watt amp with a CS sub you get 300 watts used, with no power spent in an effort to flatten or lower the response of the sub. Looking at this another way, if you own a sub using this much equalization you must push its driver with a full 500 watts of power (with the accompanying heat and stress on both driver and amp) to equal 125 watts with an SVS design. Needless to say 125-watt amps are relatively inexpensive and plentiful compared to 500 watt ones. And to a limited degree, the more clean power an amp can deliver the greater the bass impact. As little as 100 watts with any of our SVS CS "passive" subwoofers will drive most folks out of a room if you're so inclined! No wonder our 200watt-ish PC subs blow HT critics away with so "little" power.