Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

augustya

Suspended
Original poster
Feb 17, 2012
3,331
464
HI Guys,

Apple has not revealed the driver out put right besides just saying the Homepod will have one upward firing woofer and seven tweeters but how much watts will it produce that Apple has not given am I correct ?
 
To the best of my knowledge they haven't. And based on it have a dedicated amp per tweeter and one for the woofer plus algorithms for beam forming audio and spatial awareness that are likely always activate they probably will never publish that data. It will just give an arbitrary specs for the competition to beat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: QuarterSwede
To the best of my knowledge they haven't. And based on it have a dedicated amp per tweeter and one for the woofer plus algorithms for beam forming audio and spatial awareness that are likely always activate they probably will never publish that data. It will just give an arbitrary specs for the competition to beat.

I seriously get perplexed when companies like these another e.g. is SONOS, BOSE who do not publish their driver details, god knows what is the reason behind that?? When some of the Veterans and Stalwart companies in the Audio Industry do that !!
 
I seriously get perplexed when companies like these another e.g. is SONOS, BOSE who do not publish their driver details, god knows what is the reason behind that?? When some of the Veterans and Stalwart companies in the Audio Industry do that !!

Because pure audio specs are arbitrary when it comes to products like this. It all comes down to how it sounds for the individual and their subjective opinion.

For example the HomePod supposedly has spatial awareness via microphones blah blah. Sitting in the middle of the room it will likely sounds better than listening to the back of a directional speaker regardless of any spec.

Plus audio specs are too easy to game because most people don't know what they mean. 200 watts sounds twice as good as 100 watts, however you and I know that isn't true. Then you have manufacturers conveniently leave out "peak" to give the false impression its RMS.

My plan is to get the HomePod and just see how I like it. If I feel it doesn't live up to the price point I'll return it.
 
Because pure audio specs are arbitrary when it comes to products like this. It all comes down to how it sounds for the individual and their subjective opinion.

For example the HomePod supposedly has spatial awareness via microphones blah blah. Sitting in the middle of the room it will likely sounds better than listening to the back of a directional speaker regardless of any spec.

Plus audio specs are too easy to game because most people don't know what they mean. 200 watts sounds twice as good as 100 watts, however you and I know that isn't true. Then you have manufacturers conveniently leave out "peak" to give the false impression its RMS.

My plan is to get the HomePod and just see how I like it. If I feel it doesn't live up to the price point I'll return it.

My Gripe is it just has one, just one woofer so I wonder a BASS lover like me how much is he going to get out of a such a compact speaker ? in terms of BASS !!
 
Last edited:
I seriously get perplexed when companies like these another e.g. is SONOS, BOSE who do not publish their driver details, god knows what is the reason behind that?? When some of the Veterans and Stalwart companies in the Audio Industry do that !!
Because they are active speakers powered by class D amplifiers. There’s no need to know the ohm load and efficiency of the speakers to match it with a powerful enough amplifier.

For the Connect:Amp, Sonos do publish the wattage per channel and ohm rating.
 
HI Guys,

Apple has not revealed the driver out put right besides just saying the Homepod will have one upward firing woofer and seven tweeters but how much watts will it produce that Apple has not given am I correct ?
Speakers (transducers) don't produce watts they convert electrical energy and 'produce' acoustic energy called SPL (Sound Pressure Level) that is measured in dB (decibel) output. Watts is an electrical energy measurement (voltage x amperage). Watts "produced" would be an amplifier output measurement. Apple would carefully balance the amplifiers' wattage output to match all the speaker drivers' inputs.
 
Last edited:
Speakers (transducers) don't produce watts they convert electrical energy and 'produce' acoustic energy called SPL (Sound Pressure Level) that is measured in dB (decibel) output. Watts is an electrical energy measurement (voltage x amperage). Watts "produced" would be an amplifier output measurement. Apple would carefully balance the amplifiers' wattage output to match all the speaker drivers' inputs.

When I say watts I mean the Watts-RMS not the electric supply One !
 
  • Like
Reactions: QuarterSwede
It's probably somewhere around 30-40 watts RMS. It's not going to shake your windows. Will it sound as good as the Bose SoundLink II speaker for bass performance (it's incredible what that small thing puts out)? Who knows.
 
When I say watts I mean the Watts-RMS not the electric supply One !
Wattage Root Mean Square is the output of the power amplifier just as I stated. It is a completely uninformative number on a closed system and is like asking what the impedance is of the transducers (probably more important to SLP output). Also the HomePod will have 8 distinct amp output circuits with a shared power supply (probably all Class-D for efficiency). So do you want to know the output wattage of all 8 amp outputs at the same time, in groups or per amp? Also do you what the wattage figures at 8 Ohms, 4 Ohms or best matched to each transducers impedance curve???? Wattage is (and has always been) the most misused (and usually not well understood) measurement in the audio industry.

Also the HomePod sound quality and SLP will be most effected by it's DSP and beam/sound shaping technology.
 
Last edited:
When you ask any of the Sonos Community Forum people their, just rebuke this discussion of Watts and RMS as it is just not true yardstick of the sound quality produced by the speakers !
 
Last edited:
My Gripe is it just has one, just one woofer so I wonder a BASS lover like me how much is he going to get out of a such a compact speaker ? in terms of BASS !!

Its a smart speaker!

If you are crazy about bass I hate to disappoint you but an array of speakers in a football size housing will likely leave you disappointed.

I think it will have impressive bass but only when used in the context "for its size".

It only has a single 4" woofer that isn't only dedicated to that deep bass you probably like. While that woofer has good displacement for its still only 4". I would expect better bass than the Sonos Play:3 but not as good as the Sonos Play:5.

And overall sound quality I would expect to be approaching the Sonos Play:5 by using software and hardware techniques.

Regardless if you set your exceptions to Maxell....

maninchair.jpg

I think you'll end up highly disappointed.
 
Its a smart speaker!

I mean yes ! The way Analysts are predicting it is the reign of smart speakers, Smart Speakers are taking over !

But If I have to listen to pure Music, Listening Joy. I would still tilt in favour of a conventional speaker.

Yes I do crave for Big BASS because of the kind of Music I listen to...so I don't see in that aspect the Homepod being a BASS Monster ! It will soon become a lifestyle product just to add aesthetic value and look good in your living room.

And overall sound quality I would expect to be approaching the Sonos Play:5 by using software and hardware techniques.

I do not think so. The Sonos Play:5 has three 4 inch woofers to give that thumping BASS compared to the only one 4 inch woofer of the Homepod.
 
Last edited:
I do not think so. The Sonos Play:5 has three 4 inch woofers to give that thumping BASS compared to the only one 4 inch woofer of the Homepod.

My statement was vague to remain accurate. Software and hardware techniques I mentioned are based on spatial awareness. Set both in the middle of a room and walk around them. The HomePod SHOULD sound better for more of the 360 degrees. The Sonos can't project sound in all directions.

Sitting directly in front of the Sonos and it should sound better. There is no way around that, headphones sound better on your head vs someone elses.

Some initial reviewers equated the HomePod to the Sonos Play 5. Keep in mind it was updated. The original version only had one 4" sub.

Screen Shot 2018-01-10 at 7.19.57 PM.png

So I don't know which was the point of comparison.

Also if your focus is bass you should be noticing the enclosure. The Sonos Play 5 appears to be in a sealed enclosure. The HomePod appears to be opened on the bottom giving it more of a ported enclosure design. In general a ported enclosure will produce a louder lower frequency.

Lets just wait and see how the HomePod does. I'm not an audiophile by trade but I'm incredibly picky and I'll be the first to admit it sucks and I'll send it back. Plus I have a friend that runs a recording studio that is excited to hear what mine sounds like when I get it.
 
Has anyone been able to find out how many watts output does the Homepod produce ? Apple has not disclosed it. Anybody who has got this information from any of the tear down or any videos on the Internet, if anyone has found this information ? Please tell me ?
 
This is becoming a very common trend with speaker manufacturers.

All I can say is it’s really loud and sounds really good!
 
This is becoming a very common trend with speaker manufacturers.

All I can say is it’s really loud and sounds really good!

Absolutely. It is becoming a growing trend with a lot of companies, Sonos, Bose none of them publish their sound output in terms of watts RMS. But I am really curious to find out how much sound output in terms of watts RMS does the HomePod give ? Sadly the iFixit tear down also didn't reveal that !!
 
Absolutely. It is becoming a growing trend with a lot of companies, Sonos, Bose none of them publish their sound output in terms of watts RMS. But I am really curious to find out how much sound output in terms of watts RMS does the HomePod give ? Sadly the iFixit tear down also didn't reveal that !!
Why does it matter (honest question), if the HP (or any speaker system), produces sound that is louder then most people need, and the HP seems to fit that category, then what does it matter what the wattage is?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: jagtapl and Julien
Why does it matter (honest question), if the HP (or any speaker system), produces sound that is louder then most people need, and the HP seems to fit that category, then what does it matter what the wattage is?

Because I am not in the U.S and I cannot try a speaker for 14 days and decide which speaker is better. To try it I have to buy it and when I am comparing and contemplating a variety of speakers I need to be very sure and accurate with my analysis on which one is better ! So to compare between different speakers I need the watts RMS figure.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.