Why so much Power? - Page 2

They got away from it when the world moved from two channel to multi channel surround sound. The old issues of "all channels driven" and that sort of thing motivated them to abandon the standard. The method for stating amplifier power used to be defined by law. Apparently, that isn't the case any longer. So long, standard.

It is still defined by law, but my limited understanding is that the law is (and always has been) somewhat vague. I think that as long as the amp meets its rated power while driving 1 channel, then the amp is not considered to be mis-represented. But honestly, I've used enough cheap receivers to wonder how most of them can even meet their rated power with 1 channel.