FTC may end amplifier rule! ACTION NEEDED

actually, i find the FTC requirements arbitrary. Music is not a 100% duty cycle into an 8 ohm resistive load. Having short term current and power capability is far more important than being able to, say drive a 75 watt signal into an 8 ohm resistor for an hour.

Well recorded music has a peak:average ratio of over ten. This means that, to avoid clipping, an amplifier ought to put out less than 10% of its maximum voltage swing on average. OTOH it is VERY useful for it to have the ability to drive nearly zero load momentarily, given the very reactive properties of most cone speakers (with the voice coil flying in the reverse direction its theoretically possible to be negative in fact).
The simplistic requirement is a bane, IMO. I realize it is nearly impossible to make anything simple meaningful, but this really does not bother me one bit. Not one’s allowing them to lie, simply to stop measuring "20-20k, both channels driven, for an hour, into a 8 ohm resistive load". Of course, I’m one of those misleading designers intent on selling you something that sounds good, but is really a pile of crap :-)


Note the biggest hurdle is the most fallacious: its heat dissipation.
note2: for any class-A amp this is all irrelevant and for hgih bias AB far less relevant.
note3: read specs at 8, 4 and 2 ohms to get a good idea of real capability.

"...   but do you think the future is well made class D amps?..."

The advantages of low heat and low power consumption will always be in demand. For most applications that might make it the dominant design but I'm not ready to write off the other class amps quite yet.  

You mean the 1,000,000 watts RMS per channel they told me my amp had wasn't true?

@russ69 yes. Class AB is the boss but it has hit a ceiling I feel. Innovation is harder to come by in class AB. Mind you I currently run a 5 channel parasound in my HT and love it. On the other hand class D has room to grow. I can say the NAD amp I referenced was cool to the touch but capable of reference levels with a very clean and neutral presentation. I would up returning it because it was almost too neutral and a little dry for my tastes. 

@itsjustme  - I agree with you 100% that the current regulations aren't particularly relevant for the kind of amps that most audiogon contributors would care about. But these regulations were originally developed for less sophisticated customers and are probably still somewhat relevant for the class of product that would be sold at Best Buy or Walmart. 

I think the most valuable part of the regulations were to come up with a standard definition of measuring power. But I agree that it makes more sense to talk about sustained RMS power and peak RMS power (maybe 5 or 10% duty cycle) separately, and perhaps also peak RMS power into a more reactive, lower impedance load. 

But I think that most more-sophisticated customers are going to do the research to understand if the amp is going to work with their particular speakers, room, and listening preferences, and are going to pay less attention to the FTC-approved ratings.