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[email protected] dpierce@cartchunk.org is offline
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Default AR3a/AS103a speakers and the Heathkit AR1500 receiver

Peter Wieck wrote:


Some misconceptions:

There are a lot of misconception to do with "volume", and especially as
it relates to "watts".

At one watt average, with moderately dynamic source, you will need at
least a 100-watt amp to get clean peaks absolutely without clipping.


A peak-to-average ratio of 20 dB: moderate??

Components of the vintage of your Heath more-or-less send straight DC
into the speaker when driven to clipping.


Some pathological cases do, the vast majority don't.

Again, put another way, it is (Very typical of vintage SS amps)
amplifiers of low power that burn speakers, not high power.


This has been pretty thoroughly debunked elsewhere, check
out Rane's application notes on apolifier clipping and tweeter
life.

Those of us who dabble in tube equipment tend to ignore this simple
truth as output transformers will not pass DC, so clipping is much
softer and relatively harmless


That tubes clip more softwly has almost nothing whatsoever to do
with the fact that the output transformers do not pass DC. The
clipping is software for two reasons:

1. The upper end gain transfer characteristics of the tube do not
change as abruptly when limiting is reached,

2. The conbination of the tube's HF bandwidth, the transformer's
HF bandwidth and the overall circuit's HF bandwidth can suppress
some of the higher harmonics resulting from clipping.