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Was causes clipping?
On my receiver, I have a clip indicator light that flashes whenever something is clipping. It only flashes on a few of my cds, and nothing else. So my question is, what causes the clipping, why is it only on a few cds, and how bad is it for the speakers?
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Clipping is very bad for the speakers especially the tweeters.
Basically it is when the amplifier is being asked for power it cannot give and it "chops" off the top of the waveform. Sounds like you need more power. http://www.audiovideo101.com/dictionary/clipping.asp |
Thanks for the quick answers. However, the clipping happens at all volumes, even when turned down low. Could it just be a bad recording on the cd?
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Hmm . . .
If it is happening at all volume levels I would suspect something else is amiss. Possibly your speakers are already damaged, your amplifier has some type of performance problem or (this is unlikely) your amplifier is far over matched by the load the speakers are asking for such as an ohm imbalance. What type of equipment are we talking about here and no I do not think it has anything to do with the recording |
I have a Kenwood receiver and cd player, and Paradigm studio 100s for mains. I know it is not the speakers since they are fairly new, plus the same thing happened with my last speakers (Infinitys).
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If it happened with a previous set of speakers it seems fairly certain that it is in your amplifier.
I just looked at the speakers. Unless you have a very recent Kenwood receiver I doubt that you are able to drive these correctly. These ask for amps between 15-350 watts with 210 maximum power. |
It is a Kenwood VR-3080, around 2 years old (I am looking to get a new receiver). The reason I thought it might be the recordings, is because the few cds that it clips on, it always clips on, no matter what the volume.
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Do you still have the owner's manual for your receiver? Check to see what it says about what the clipping light indicates.
If I had to guess, I'd say that you're exceeding the maximum input voltage your receiver is able to handle. If your receiver has a "trim" or "attenuate" function, you should try to use that. Otherwise, switching to another cd player would probably solve your problem (especially if you use one with variable outputs and lower the output until you no longer see the clipping light). So... 1) What does your manual say about clipping? Also, what's the maximum input voltage (this'd be on the specs page)? 2) What kind of cd player are you using? What's its maximum output voltage (again, on the specs page)? |
Here is the specs I found online:
Receiver http://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/pr...?productId=391 cd player http://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/pr...?productId=395 |
Originally posted by cpgator Here is the specs I found online: Receiver http://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/pr...?productId=391 cd player http://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/pr...?productId=395 The sound is distorted, and the CLIP indicator on the receiver's front panel flashes red continually, or stays red for more than 1 second at a time Lower the analog input level for the source component you're listening to. (Setting the proper input level eliminates distortion that occurs if a source component's output level is too high. When this happens, the front panel CLIP indicator will flash red continually or remain red for periods of 1 second or longer. Occasional brief flashing of the CLIP indicator is okay). Select the icon for the source component. For CD1, Video2, Video3, and Video 4, also select the Input Analog icon. Access the main menu and select the Stp (Setup) tab. Select Input. Select Input Level. Every time you select the button the volume will cycle between 0dB, -3dB, -6dB and back to 0dB. While the source component is playing, reduce the Input Level to -3dB. If the CLIP indicator still flashes frequently or remains lit for 1 second or longer, reduce the Input Level again to -6dB. Select the check icon or any input icon to return to the main screen. |
Did you look at the receiver's manual to see what it says about clipping? |
Originally posted by cpgator I was wondering where you copied that from... didn't realize there was a link there for the manual on that page. Thanks for you help. I will try this when I get home. Hopefully it works. If it comes on very briefly every once in a while, and only on a few discs, and you're not hearing any distortion, I'd just ignore it. But at least now you know what the clipping light means. :) |
I've got a Kenwood receiver (I think it is the VR-309) that only has the clipping light come on when I'm playing a CD-R. All regular CDs work fine. The sound is fine and the light flashed rapidly no matter what the volume is (even all the way down).
I'll have to try playing the disks through my Yamaha 5460 and see if it does the same. |
Update... got home and changed the input to -3 and this seemed to work. I tried the discs that I had been having the problem with and the clip light never came on. Thanks again for the help.
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OHMS
Check the Ohms of the speakers and the Ohms of the receiver... Most receivers list off a generic 8 Ohm rating, but if your speakers are difficult to drive and frequently require 4 and sometimes 2 Ohm loads...WATCH OUT!
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Re: OHMS
Originally posted by apark78 Check the Ohms of the speakers and the Ohms of the receiver... Most receivers list off a generic 8 Ohm rating, but if your speakers are difficult to drive and frequently require 4 and sometimes 2 Ohm loads...WATCH OUT! But this is completely unrelated to the problems cpgator was having. |
Typically
Although the Ohm situation may not pertain to this particular situation, it is probably the most frequent cause of clipping.
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