§ 432.3 Standard test conditions. For purposes of performing the tests necessary to make the disclosures required under § 432.2 of this part: ( a ) The power line voltage shall be 120 volts AC (230 volts when the equipment is made for foreign sale or use, unless a different nameplate rating is permanently affixed to the product by the manufacturer in which event the latter figure would control), RMS, using a sinusoidal wave containing less than 2 percent total harmonic content. In the case of equipment designed for battery operation only, tests shall be made with the battery power supply for which the particular equipment is designed and such test voltage must be disclosed under the required disclosures of § 432.2 of this part. If capable of both AC and DC battery operation, testing shall be with AC line operation;
( b ) The AC power line frequency for domestic equipment shall be 60 Hz and 50 Hz for equipment made for foreign sale or use;
( c ) The amplifier shall be preconditioned by simultaneously operating all channels at one-eighth of rated power output for one hour using a sinusoidal wave at a frequency of 1,000 Hz; *provided, however,* that for amplifiers utilized as a component in a self-powered subwoofer system, the sinusoidal wave used as a preconditioning signal may be any frequency within the amplifier's intended operating bandwidth that will allow the amplifier to be driven to one-eighth of rated power for one hour;
( d ) The preconditioning and testing shall be in still air and an ambient temperature of at least 77 °F (25 °C);
( e ) Any power level from 250 mW to the rated power shall be obtainable at all frequencies within the rated power band of 20 Hz to 20 kHz without exceeding 1.0% of total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N) at an impedance of 8 ohms after input signals at said frequencies have been continuously applied at full rated power for not less than five (5) minutes at the amplifier's auxiliary input, or if not provided, at the phono input. *Provided,* however, that for amplifiers utilized as a component in a self-powered subwoofer in a self-powered subwoofer-satellite speaker system that employs two or more amplifiers dedicated to different portions of the audio frequency spectrum, any power level from 250 mW to the rated power shall be obtainable at all frequencies within the subwoofer amplifier's intended operating bandwidth without exceeding 1.0% of total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N) at an impedance of 8 ohms after input signals at said frequencies have been continuously applied at full rated power for not less than five (5) minutes at the amplifier's auxiliary input, or if not provided, at the phono input.
( f ) At all times during warm-up and testing, tone loudness-contour and other controls shall be preset for the flattest response.
( g ) Rated power shall be minimum sine wave continuous average power output, in watts, per channel (if the equipment is designed to amplify two or more channels simultaneously), measured with all associated channels fully driven to rated per channel power.
( h ) Associated channels for multichannel amplifiers shall include, at a minimum, the left front and right front channels used for reproducing stereo programming. *Provided,* however, when measuring the maximum per channel output of self-powered combination speaker systems that employ two or more amplifiers dedicated to different portions of the audio frequency spectrum, such as those incorporated into combination subwoofer-satellite speaker systems, only those channels dedicated to the same audio frequency spectrum should be considered associated channels.
[39 FR 15387, May 3, 1974, as amended at 65 FR 81240, Dec. 22, 2000; 89 FR 49801, June 12, 2024]