Also in the hundred of reviews I have read, I have found that Onkyo, Denon and Harmon Kardon accurately rate their amps to within 10% of their stated claims. H/K actually understates their own amps and in most cases is better than what their own brouchures claim. Companies like Pioneer and Yamaha fudge a little more (not counting the Pioneers with the ICE amps which also rate higher than their advertised claims. And Sony by far is the worst offender at claiming their amps are powerhorses. I'd feel safe running a Sony in a walk in closet sized room, any larger and I would be worried. (sorry those who own or like Sony just the conclusion I hav reached from the many many Sony's reviewed).
Agreed completely. My old Sony reciever was a "600w" amp, claiming 100wpc. My new HK is rated at 50wpc. Using a pair of cheap Polk m40's on both, I could max out the HK and still have clean sound at ear-piercing levels. Hitting half volume on the Sony resulted in horrible clipping followed by a dead woofer.
I always thought my speakers were maxing out with the Sony before, but once I got the HK, I fed them so much more power than I thought those little 5.25" woofers could take.
Looking at the wattage alone would have you think the sony is twice as powerful, but in reality the way they're measured, you can't compare them at all, it's apples to oranges. The HK is measured from 20Hz-20KHz, all channels driven, continuous power, whereas the Sony was measured at 1KHz, one channel driven, peak power.
