Donny, my smallest NH job usually has 45 to 75 pp in the audience, and I did one Monday night with 120 in the audience. The smallest room I perform in measures approximately 25 X 90 feet, which wouldn't cut it for 40 watts - even RMS.

Once in a while I do a living room party, a private party with a dozen or so people in attendance, and for those I use just the onboard sound system, which is fantastic sounding.

Gary

To Gary - I'd have to search to see for sure; I thought i remembered seeing it as "RMS" … but that aside, I agreed in my note that the iLOUD would not be sufficient at all for gigs (at least the ones I play), even the smallest location.

Re: power ratings on equipment … I've been surprised for years to see power requirements specs right on equipment, that do not seem to match up with the power the amp or amplified speaker is 'spec'd' or documented to put out.

I'll have to do a check this weekend on a few items - I'll bet I can find more than one that have an input power rating that is less than what the RMS outputs power spec is. I never understood this; I'd think that a 200W RMS amp (for example) would have an input power higher than 200W (since it would never be 100% (perfect) efficiency.

Jim

I just read some interesting reviews about the iLoud. A professional review by a magazine (in German only) states that the 40 watts are RMS. Regarding the clarity and neutrality of the sound, they rate it highly.
In several reviews I read that the maximum sound pressure is really high in relation to the size, but not without distortion at high volumes. A user compared it directly to the Bose Sounddock portable, he says they have a comparable SPL, the Bose being a bit less dynamic at very high volumes, but having better bass frequencies and no distortion, whereas the iLoud obviously has no limiter that would prevent distortion.
In Thomann reviews I read that some units are faulty and distort at medium volumes when playing piano sounds (someone exchanged it with a replacement unit and didn't have the distortion then).

On the topic of "input power" vs. output power, I've always been surprised by ratings on various products. Often the "input power" or "power consumtion" seems way lower than I'd expect given the output specs. I guess they do some "average" or "not-running-full-tilt" numbers for input power. Some examples I found:

EV ZxA1 800W Powered Speaker:
Mains Requirements:
100V: 80V–110V, 0.7A4, 50–60Hz
120V: 95V–132V, 0.6A4, 50–60Hz

FBT Maxx 40a powered speaker:
Bi amplified: 500w RMS LF & 150w RMS (650W total)
Rating (back of speaker): 550VA

Yamaha DXR series:
Output power: Dynamic:1100W (LF: 950W HF: 150W) / Continuous: 700W (LF: 600W HF: 100W)
Power consumption: 90W

Some weeks ago I found a fantastic explanation about this on the internet. This is the link:

http://www.jands.com.au/solutions/educat...lained_-_part_1

The summarizing statement for your question is: Amplifier output power and mains consumption (input power) specifications are based on completely different measurement methods. Don’t assume they directly relate to the same conditions.

Don't forget - to be twice as loud as a 40 watt amp, you need FOUR HUNDRED watts. You need to multiply by 10 to double your power. 40 watts can be loads of power with the right input signal. Do the math:
80 watts - 10% louder
120 watts - 20% louder ...

Uncle Dave is absolutely correct. The volume increases logarithmically. A guitar player came to one of my gigs with his 15 watt Fender Hot Rod Jr. tube amp. I can tell you this little amp is awesome. It worked very well with our 5 piece band. I couldn't believe the sound. Watt ratings are not everything.