Are watts for base, or how much electricty the system takes up?

Question

I just got this surround sound system for my room and its is 3000 watts thats alot right?

What are watts? for the whole system or, or is it how loud the speakers get, or how much bass there is or what???

THANKS!!!

Answer 1

Its bass not base.

And watts are the measurement of sound intensity.  If I did the math right, with 3000 watts, if you stand about 3 feet away, thats about 145 dB.  A jet plane taking off gives off 140 dB.  So, the sound from those speakers could make you go deaf in a few minutes.  Have Fun!

Answer 2

watts is the power of the system so yes that makes it louder

& with 3kw I'm glade I don't live next door

Answer 3

Your system is not 3000 watts.  Wattage is generally a useless mean of evaluating a system except people automatically equate wattage with loudness, which is a false pretense.  Most systems cannot get to their maximum wattage.  Your system for example would consume 25 amps of power.  Most circuits are only 15 amps, or 1800 watts.  Generally speaking, systems have a hidden Route Mean Squared (R.M.S.) rating that is the real number.  It is an incredibly underhanded trick by the majority of home theater companies to get you to believe that there product is better than a competitors because it draws more power.  It's almost like a car company that advertises additional horse power.  The consumer will automatically assume good things about it, though things like torque and the vehicle's curb weight effect its speed and acceleration capabilities and it could get beaten by other cars that don't have as much horsepower much like a Lotus Exige with 252 horsepower accelerates faster than a Shelby Mustang with 500.  In all actuality, things like decibel sensitivity ratio and frequency responses are considerably more important.  

The higher the sensitivity ratio, the more efficient the speaker is.  A speaker with a sensitivity ratio of 91 will be 91 decibels a meter away.  Every time the wattage is doubled, the decibel doubles.  Doubling the decibel is the equivalent of adding three watts, so at one watt, you have 91 decibels, two watts you have 94, four watts you have 97, eight watts 100, 16 watts you have 102, etc.  The human ear perceives double the loudness at about ten additional decibels, so to actually double the loudness, you would have to go from one watt to 16 watts.  

As for frequency range, you're best off looking at a spectrum graph.  The flatter it is, the more even the sound will be.  Also, the lower the frequency range, the more bass.

Answer 4

Your speakers are motors.  They convert electricity into mechanical movement.

Power measured in watts is used to 'drive' the speakers.

There is a law of physics that says to increase the volume by 1 db - you must double the power.  So a receiver/amp with more watts can play louder or handle louder swings.

HOWEVER: there is no standard way to measure power so some companies can orient the test to make their receiver sound more powerful.

Good receivers run 80-120 watts per speaker.

Answer 5

It usually means that 3000 watts of power is available to your speakers.  And it usually means that most of that power is not used most of the time.  One can crank up the volume to higher levels without noticeable distortion than a 30 watt system.  

However, most high powered equipment is inferior at low levels because it is not very efficient.  Speakers rated for that much power, usually, do not deliver equally across the spectrum at low levels

Answer 6

I agree with SomeGuy, in order to have a "3000 watt" system you would have to have at least 27Amps available at your wall socket - that is before you take into account the inefficiency of an audio amp (usually about 40-50%). So you'd be looking at a total consumption of nearly 60A.

It's all just glitzy marketing!!!