It's very simple.....it is the watt hours of battery/batteries you have available divided by the load. If you system draws a constant 500 watts......then 5000 watt hours of battery (two 200 amp hour batteries....ie 400 amps x 12.6 volts) will let you run at least 8 straight hours without recharging. Most do not listen that long. You can also charge while listening but it does not sound as good as disconnecting the charger from the battery. If your system only draws 150 watts then you do not need much battery.
The only way to know if an inverter system sounds best is to try one.....the info on my site shows a setup that is mindblowing good.