Vue Meters - How does Decibles convert to WPC Output?
- Thread starter Shadowfax
- Start date
Phil A
Member
Don't know if this helps - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VU_meter
AJ Soundfield
Well-known member
Yes, VU is usually line level (think tape decks), power meters (amps) OTOH, are usually in Watts.
W9TR
Active member
True VU meters are seldom seen in consumer gear. VU meters are very slow responding and used to set average voltage levels in commercial broadcast gear that has plenty of headroom to handle peaks.
Most consumer power amps use some sort of peak reading meter that is calibrated in watts and dB. For example my McIntosh MC 602 has peak reading meters calibrated in watts and dB. 0 dB is 600 watts, -10 dB is 60 watts, -20 dB is 6 watts, etc. They respond fairly quickly, registering 90% of full scale with a single cycle of a 1 kHz signal. So these are not VU meters, they are peak reading power meters.
Tom
Most consumer power amps use some sort of peak reading meter that is calibrated in watts and dB. For example my McIntosh MC 602 has peak reading meters calibrated in watts and dB. 0 dB is 600 watts, -10 dB is 60 watts, -20 dB is 6 watts, etc. They respond fairly quickly, registering 90% of full scale with a single cycle of a 1 kHz signal. So these are not VU meters, they are peak reading power meters.
Tom
UltraFast69
New member
I had fancy VU Meters on my Panasonic all in one record, cassette and tuner that included speakers I got from my Dad for Christmas around ‘79 - I used this all the way through high school, later upgrading the speakers to ADS book shelves.
