- 2,055
- United States
- Brucifxr
Take a look at this:
"700 watt music system." Pretty much all of Sony's shelf stereos (and other companies' too, I'm sure) have this gigantic wattage rating. I've singled out this particular model just because it's the one I actually own.
Before I tried educating myself on the subject, I assumed that the 700 was taken from the combined output of both speakers and the subwoofer (placing each speaker at 235W and the sub at 230W).
Then, I noticed that the little receiver itself consumes just 90W of power. Quite a fall from 700. Not to mention that some vastly-superior A/V receivers are doing 135W per channel. It just doesn't make sense.
I understand that, when a consumer sees a big number like "700," they are immediately attracted. I was one of those consumers.
It gets worse, though. Sony Shake models, like this one, have a rating of three thousand watts! Not only that, but, to make things more confusing, this Sony model (the predecessor to the model I own) has a lower rating of 540 watts; however, I've actually owned that one, too, and not only does its receiver consume around 250W of power, but it also has superior sound quality, is pretty much equal in loudness, and has a subwoofer that can produce sound at 20Hz and below, whereas my current one seems to cut off at around 40Hz.
I know frequency response doesn't have much to do with it, and maybe I can chalk up the sound quality and power consumption to the class of amplifier used (the 700W model uses Class D, and I'll guess the 540W model uses a Class A/B because of how large its heatsink was), but I'm still confused as to why Sony decided to market that model with a lower (though equally absurd) wattage rating when it is equal, if not superior, to the 700W model that replaced it.
I guess that brings me back to the original question - where on earth do these ridiculous numbers come from? Is there any basis in truth?
"700 watt music system." Pretty much all of Sony's shelf stereos (and other companies' too, I'm sure) have this gigantic wattage rating. I've singled out this particular model just because it's the one I actually own.
Before I tried educating myself on the subject, I assumed that the 700 was taken from the combined output of both speakers and the subwoofer (placing each speaker at 235W and the sub at 230W).
Then, I noticed that the little receiver itself consumes just 90W of power. Quite a fall from 700. Not to mention that some vastly-superior A/V receivers are doing 135W per channel. It just doesn't make sense.
I understand that, when a consumer sees a big number like "700," they are immediately attracted. I was one of those consumers.
It gets worse, though. Sony Shake models, like this one, have a rating of three thousand watts! Not only that, but, to make things more confusing, this Sony model (the predecessor to the model I own) has a lower rating of 540 watts; however, I've actually owned that one, too, and not only does its receiver consume around 250W of power, but it also has superior sound quality, is pretty much equal in loudness, and has a subwoofer that can produce sound at 20Hz and below, whereas my current one seems to cut off at around 40Hz.
I know frequency response doesn't have much to do with it, and maybe I can chalk up the sound quality and power consumption to the class of amplifier used (the 700W model uses Class D, and I'll guess the 540W model uses a Class A/B because of how large its heatsink was), but I'm still confused as to why Sony decided to market that model with a lower (though equally absurd) wattage rating when it is equal, if not superior, to the 700W model that replaced it.
I guess that brings me back to the original question - where on earth do these ridiculous numbers come from? Is there any basis in truth?
Last edited:
