ANSI CTA-2015-2007 pdf download Mobile Electronics Cabling Standard ANSI/CTA-2015 R2017 (Formerly ANSI/CEA-2015)
4 Power Handling Capability The power handling capability of any cable is dependent on the material used to make the cable, and the size of the cable. The lower the resistivity of the conductive material used in the cable, the more power it can handle, all else being equal. Also, the larger the cross-sectional area of the cable the more power it can handle, all else being equal. CEA-201 5 rates power cables and speaker cables differently.
4.1 Power Cables Power cables are rated in terms of the amplifiers with which they should be used. When amplifier power is measured in accordance with CEA-2006-A the amplifier power that is reported to consumers for a particular product is not equivalent to the power consumed by that product. Instead, it represents the power delivered to 4 ohm speakers. In order to convert this number to power consumed by the amplifier one needs to factor in the efficiency of the amplifier. For example, if an amplifier is rated as a 50 watt per channel x 2 channel amplifier using CEA-2006-A, and the efficiency of the amplifier is 50 percent, then only 50 percent of the power supplied to the amplifier makes it to the speakers, and the total power consumed by the amplifier is 200 watts (50 watts per channel x 2 channels divided by 0.5). So, in order to supply power to the CEA-2006-A-rated amplifier in this example, the power cables must be able to handle 200 watts of power.
CEA-201 5 assumes a standard efficiency of 50 percent for all amplifiers, which is typical performance for a class AB amplifier. While some amplifiers may be more efficient than this, it is believed that a 50 percent efficiency assumption for all amplifiers will ensure that the CEA-201 5-rated capacity of power cables will be equal to or greater than the power consumption of amplifiers if their output power is rated in accordance with CEA-2006-A.