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Peak Power
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Author:  karyoker [ Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:42 am ]
Post subject:  Peak Power
It seems when certain engineering specs or terms are adopted by different industries the original definition is distorted and turns into confusion and mysteries.

Aboard ship I worked on a tracking radar that put out a peak power of 3.5 Mega watts. The final was a klystron that weighed over 400 lbs and was water and oil cooled. A radar puts out a short or narrow square wave for a few microseconds and times the reflection of off a target to determine range. The duty cycle is small and when averaged out the power is minimal. Yet the system has to be able to put out this power.

Household power is 120 volts sin wave. Peak is 1.4 times that or 168. Peak to peak plus and minus is double that or 336 volts.

Audio is also plus and minus. The peak plus will move the cone in a max direction and minus in the opposite direction. For simplicity lets say a short audio burst of 100 volts will do this. This is 800 watts of power. The amp driving this speaker must be capable of producing these peaks. With short bursts there is time to dissipate heat and it can be tolerated periodically. When the speaker requires the current to do this amd the amp is only capable of 70 volt peaks it saturates and the peaks are flat lined and puts out a DC component. The frequency is not varying. This burns up a coil because there is no or low resistance. Bass frequencies have a longer period of flatline and typically take 2-3 times the power of highs.

Effective power is about .707 peak (pure sin wave). So when matching an amp for a speaker a good standard is double the average power of the speaker for the wattage of the amp.

Another consideration is this. When a speaker is being driven in the .707 to peak range there is harmonic distortion. I hope this simplifies it a bit.
Author:  EElvis [ Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:03 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Peak Power
I am not sure where this explanation came from but it is 100% accurate by engineering standards. Funny it is simple enough for most folks to understand.
Author:  karyoker [ Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Peak Power
Quote:
I am not sure where this explanation came from but it is 100% accurate by engineering standards.


ROFL It came from an old man with many years of experience. I believe in keeping things simple then you might have a chance of understanding more complicated things.
Author:  johnny reverb [ Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Peak Power
Like during Oscillation, the wattage going to the speaker can double, so an amp capable of putting out 101 watts can blow a speaker that can handle 201 watts....of course this is putting it in a simple example....... :)
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