Quote:
Originally Posted by IROC
IIRC, a decibel is defined as the sound level produced by 1 watt of power at 1 meter. Most guitar amp speakers have a "sensitivity" of around 96 to 100 dB, so that means that they produce 96 to 100 decibels of sound per watt of input power.
So...it becomes obvious really quickly that it doesn't take a lot of power input to create a lot of decibel output. Many people are concerned with keeping the guitar sound clean at higher volumes, so that requires a decent amount of wattage. Basically, though, 10 watts can be really, really loud. Also, it takes 10 times the power input to double the volume output, so a 100 watt amp isn't 10 times louder than a 10 watt amp - it's only twice as loud.
Car speakers are generally rated as "power handling capability", which has nothing to do with how loud they are.
All the above is from memory which is probably wrong/urban legends, so feel to correct any errors.
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Pretty close actually. Amplifier power's relationship to sound is logarithmic so doubling the power increases the volume 3db. With a 100db/w speaker, 10 watts will give you 110db, 20 watts will give you 113db, 100 watts will give you 120db. For reference, a Rolling Stones concert is usually around 110db.
Car speakers are a bit different. Most have lower sensitivities at around 88db/w, so 10w will deliver 98db, 20w will be 101db, 100w will be 108db, 1000w will be 118db (providing the speaker can actually handle that much current).
Apples and oranges. A guitar amp is a lot louder at any given wattage providing an efficient speaker is used.