Editing Audio power (section)

== Regional Variations ==

===United States===
Peak momentary power output and peak music power output are two different measurements with different specifications and should not be used interchangeably.  Manufacturers who use different words such as pulse or performance may be reflecting their own non-standard system of measurement, with an unknown meaning.  The [[Federal Trade Commission]] is putting an end to this with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Rule 46 CFR 432 (1974), affecting Power Output Claims for Amplifiers Utilized in Home Entertainment Products.

In response to a Federal Trade Commission order, the [[Consumer Electronics Association]] has established a clear and concise measure of audio power for consumer electronics. They have posted an FTC approved product marking template on their web site and the full standard is available for a fee.
Many believe this will resolve much of the ambiguity and confusion in amplifier ratings.
There will be ratings for speaker and powered speaker system too. This specification only applies to audio amplifiers. An EU counterpart is expected and all equipment sold in the US and Europe will be identically tested and rated.<ref>[http://www.ce.org/Standards/3108.asp CEA-490-A: Test Methods of Measurement for Audio Amplifiers] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722193247/http://www.ce.org/Standards/3108.asp |date=July 22, 2011 }}, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Rule, Power Output Claims for Amplifiers Utilized in Home Entertainment Products, 46 CFR 432 (1974). Accessed 2011-08-13.</ref>

This regulation did not cover automobile entertainment systems, which consequently still suffer from power ratings confusion.  However, a new Approved American National Standard ANSI/CEA-2006-B which includes testing & measurement methods for mobile audio amplifiers is being slowly phased into the market by many manufacturers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ce.org/Standards/browseByCommittee_2648.asp |title=CEA Standard for testing mobile audio equipment |access-date=2011-08-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718065137/http://www.ce.org/Standards/browseByCommittee_2648.asp |archive-date=2011-07-18 }}</ref>

===Europe===
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DIN ([[Deutsches Institut für Normung]], German Institute for Standardization) describes in DIN 45xxx several standards for measuring audio power. The DIN-standards (DIN-norms) are in common use in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epanorama.net/documents/audio/amplifier_power.html |title=Understanding amplifier power ratings |access-date=2011-08-13| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110629025051/http://www.epanorama.net/documents/audio/amplifier_power.html| archive-date= 29 June 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref>

===International===
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[[IEC]] 60268-2 defines power amplifier specifications including power output.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://webstore.iec.ch/preview/info_iec60268-3%7Bed3.0%7Den.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319222951/http://webstore.iec.ch/preview/info_iec60268-3%7Bed3.0%7Den.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-03-19 |title=IEC 60268-2 (preview) |publisher=IEC |date=August 2008 |access-date=2011-08-24}}</ref>