|
I always want to put the volume pretty high when I'm watching a dvd - especially in DTS (not extremely high, but high enough for the things in the room to vibrate a bit), and my dad tells me to turn it down, because I will blow the speakers.
Is this true? How easy is it to blow the speakers in a HT system? |
It really depends on your amplifier. If your amplifier goes into clipping, you can blow speakers at normal listening levels. However, if you have a clean high powered amp (or amp stage of your receiver) you can drive your system to the point of causing both pain and damage to your ears without damaging your speakers, provided they are designed for producing very elevated sound levels.
At some point, your speakers will begin to over-exert themselves, noticeable as distortion in the sound. This is most noticeable in mid and upper frequencies. Woofers usually distort by "bottoming out". A few general rules: If there's any distortion, it's too loud for your system. If your amp is clipping, it's too loud for your system. If it hurts: it's WAY too loud for your ears. As someone who has permanent low level tinnitus from too many rock shows without earplugs, take care of your hearing. You only get one set of ears. :) |
WHAT?
Sorry. Couldn't resist. ;) |
i blew a pair of nht super1 with a citation 7.1 bridged(450 watts):)and YES i did it on purpose....
ts |
What's clipping? |
Originally posted by clemente What's clipping? from http://www.aspen-media.com/surroun1.htm "The biggest single cause of loudspeaker driver failure is the high frequencies generated by an amplifier when it is driven into clipping. When the output signal of an amplifier is clipped (i.e. the output voltage, if unrestricted, would exceed the power supply voltage of the amplifier) the result is a signal that increasingly resembles a squarewave. A square wave, unlike a sinewave of a similar frequency, contains high frequency harmonics at a much higher level than would normally present in most audio signals. Hence the HF drivers in a loudspeaker, which are only designed to accept normal audio signals, have their coils burned-out by these high frequency harmonics generated by amplifier clipping. Therefore, whenever possible install an amplifier that matches or exceeds the power-handling of your loudspeaker." |
It's not volume that blows a speaker. It's distortion. Clipping (as defined above) is that crap sound your speakers make when you turn it up WAY too high. You'll start hearing audible distortion. A good way to think about it is like a car. When you're just driving along the car is using only a certain level of gas and it's doing great. Now imagine you flooring the car but not feeding the engine any more gas than when you were cruising. The car will choke and sputter but keep running. Kind of the same thing with an amp. If the amp doesn't have enough gas to power the speaker at a higher volume clipping occurs. Most of the time it's not the wattage rating in your amp that causes clipping, it's the current. I think that's a good analogy. I'm terrible at electronics.
Sin/Square wave: The signal coming out of your wall is a Sin wave, now when clipping occurs the tops of the sin wave start getting cut off making it look flat at the top, so the response isn't consistant with the signal. |
Originally posted by edclem As someone who has permanent low level tinnitus from too many rock shows without earplugs, take care of your hearing. You only get one set of ears. :) I ruined my ears watching the credits on BLADE too loud and too close. :brickwl: How did this happen? I thought I heard clipping, which should not have been the case (and ultimately wasn't), so I kept getting progressively closer to the front speakers and kept turning the volume up. Stupid, I know. But it is done. . .it won't destroy my life, as it has done to others (my ENT doctor said that the only medication for tinnitus is an antidepressant. People have been known to lose their minds. :() |
If I take MP3's and turn them to .WAV files and burn them to a CD, the CD causes the clipping light on my receiver to flash, no matter what volume level. Normal CD's don't cause this. Why does this occur, and is this damaging?
|
Your recording levels are too high.
|
Originally posted by RaZorBlade I always want to put the volume pretty high when I'm watching a dvd - especially in DTS (not extremely high, but high enough for the things in the room to vibrate a bit), and my dad tells me to turn it down, because I will blow the speakers. Is this true? How easy is it to blow the speakers in a HT system? |
Originally posted by SINGLE104 Originally posted by RaZorBlade I always want to put the volume pretty high when I'm watching a dvd - especially in DTS (not extremely high, but high enough for the things in the room to vibrate a bit), and my dad tells me to turn it down, because I will blow the speakers. Is this true? How easy is it to blow the speakers in a HT system? Can you tell if you're listening to something too loud? Often when I turn my headphones too loud I can tell, and I turn it down. I dont get this feeling when I'm in my HT, so I usually just leave the volume where it's at. |
It's so hard to explain to people that their system sounds dreadful because their amp is clipping, not their speakers dying.
The most common problem we face is that customers hear their speakers distorting and think the amp is too powerful for them or the driver is not big enough to handle the power so they get a smaller amp or bigger speaks. This is the total opposite to the real remedy. |
Fhrx,
You're right. That's what the quote from Stevevt's post was trying to convey. |
First you give them a few drinks to get them in the mood. They you slowly pull off their covers, take out their woofers...
|
Originally posted by Patman Your recording levels are too high. |
I see your point, but to me, it would make the movie sound more unnatural. i usually listen to my DVD's at a moderate volume, and when the volume seems too high for me, it get's distracting.but then again, it depends on the type of movie your watching, and the size of the room as well. the sound is more realistic when it's listen to at a moderate volume, to me it does. digital sound is tremendously powerful, and that's what home theaters are for to enjoy it :)
[Edited by SINGLE104 on 02-23-01 at 07:27 AM] |
One of the easies ways to determin the listening levels is to go to Radio Shack and buy a SPL meter. This should be around 30 bucks. This will also allow you to balence your system.
I have a very powerfull amp and nice speakers. When I saw 117db on my SPL meter during GoldenEye; I turned it down. I did not think it was that loud.... I don't go that loud any more :) Good, clean sound is louder that you realize. Goblincat, the wave file you have may be crap and that could cause clipping. Remember you are taking a digitized wave and turning it into a analog signal for the speakers. If the wave "compressed" or left out to many samples from the original, the resulting wave will not be the same; clipping may occur. |
You move right up close to the speaker and exhale. Q.E.D. :)
|
Kind of a stupid question - more of a clarification needed:
Supposing I have a 100 Watt receiver and speakers that are rated for 100W ... 1. Is the halfway point on my receiver volume dial equivalent to 50 watts of output? And the maximum volume equivalent to 100W of output? 2. Will I only ever run the risk of damaging the speakers when the dial is turned way up? 70-100 Watts? OR did i miss something? Is wattage not really a factor in damaging your speakers? [i can't comfortably turn up this kind of system past the 1/2 way point anyway so i doubt i'll ever hear its full potential volume] |
that's helpful,
thanks, stevevt, phil |
Originally posted by Clint Eastwood Kind of a stupid question - more of a clarification needed: Supposing I have a 100 Watt receiver and speakers that are rated for 100W ... 1. Is the halfway point on my receiver volume dial equivalent to 50 watts of output? And the maximum volume equivalent to 100W of output? Originally posted by Clint Eastwood 2. Will I only ever run the risk of damaging the speakers when the dial is turned way up? 70-100 Watts? [/B] Originally posted by Clint Eastwood OR did i miss something? Is wattage not really a factor in damaging your speakers? [i can't comfortably turn up this kind of system past the 1/2 way point anyway so i doubt i'll ever hear its full potential volume] Use your ears. If you hear your speakers begin to distort, turn the volume down. |
FYI: From JBL-Pro website: Danger: Low Power Information on one of the most common causes of speaker failure.
JBL - Technical Note Danger: Low Power . . . The Nature of Amplifier Power The power output specification of an amplifier is not absolute. Under certain operating conditions, such as when the volume control is set too high or when the input signal is too great, the amplifier can exceed its published output. The power output of an amplifier is rated with reference to a given level of total harmonic distortion (THD). If required to produce more power, the amplifier will do so, but at considerably greater distortion levels. For example, an amplifier rated at 10 watts (20 to 20,000 Hz into an B-ohm load) at no more than 0.5% THD could be overdriven to produce 20 watts of output power to the loudspeakers. Under these same adverse conditions, an amplifier rated at 20 watts could deliver 40 watts to the loudspeakers; a 35-watt amplifier could deliver 70 watts and a 50-watt amplifier could be overdriven to deliver 100 watts. This distorted output could very well be in the treble region, as we shall soon see. Here’s The Killer: Distortion Generally Affects High Frequency Drivers The additional power generated by overdriving the amplifier is rich in harmonics (distortion). These harmonics can be particularly dangerous to high frequency drivers. Harmonics are higher frequency multiples of the original signal; therefore, the high frequency component of a loudspeaker system must bear the brunt of the distortion - even though the original signal may have been generated by a bass guitar. What Can the User Do? There are no hard and fast rules. Very few amplifiers have meters that are capable of accurately indicating when an amplifier is being overdriven to the point that it could damage loudspeakers. Even the volume control position is not a clue - half rotation often produces considerably more or less than 50% of an amplifier’s power. There are no absolutes. We wish there were. However, we can offer a few guidelines: 1. Purchase an amplifier that will provide more power than you will need. Remember, a loudspeaker can require up to ten times the average power level for those instantaneous bursts of sonic power known as transients. If the amplifier has enough reserve power, transients will be clear and crisp. If not, the transients will be muddy or dull. When an amplifier runs out of undistorted power, it is forced to exceed its design capabilities, producing dangerous power levels rich in high frequency distortion. 2. Do not drive the amplifier into clipping Clipping sounds something like a stylus mistracking. and generally occurs on loud passages when the system is played at loud volume levels. If clipping occurs regularly, turn down the volume level or install a larger amplifier that can deliver the required power without distortion. Summary JBL loudspeaker systems are efficient, they will produce reasonable volume levels in a room of moderate size with very little amplifier power. However. if a small amplifier must be overdriven to obtain the desired volume levels in a listening room, thus generating high power and distortion levels, the user would be better advised to purchase a larger amplifier capable of producing the required power with negligible distortion. In any case, an amplifier should be selected with an output power rating that is greater than the maximum power that will be used. This margin of reserve power will ensure that the amplifier will not attempt to deliver more power than its design allows. The net result will be distortion-free sound reproduction and virtually unlimited loudspeaker life. There is more INFO in the PDF document, click the link above to access the copy. Phil [Edited by Phil I on 02-23-01 at 03:40 PM] |
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:18 AM. |
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.