Not to get into the middle of this, But i sure the hell remember sitting
through tech training with Soudstream, Phoenix Gold,
Orion,Audiobahn,even Infinity. And sure as **** i remember them saying
and emphasizing that underpowering a speaker will blow it. For years i
heard this. And yes ive read it also.

Did they give you any reasons? I suspect not, since none of you have
been able to remember them.

Anyway, yes, marketing departments often give that advice. They tell
you not to drive your amp into clipping. Why? Because in doing so
you're increasing the power output of your amp. Power doesn't STOP
increasing - it continues to increase when driven into saturation. So
it's in their best interest to tell you not to drive it into clipping
because if you match a 50 watt speaker with a 50 watt amplifier (as most
people do), your 50 watt amplifier can reach 80-90 watts if you're
clipping. The reasons for this are outlined in the following website:

http://www.geocities.com/audiotechpa...ingframes.html

Also, a very reputabl manufacturer also has something to say in depth
about clipping:

http://www.rane.com/pdf/note128.pdf

Many times around 1988 to say
1993ish. Especially in the q&a in csr. People always getting the advice
to overpower. Basically the way i was always told is
clipping=distortion=heat=burned woofer.

How can distortion = heat?

But it tends to make sense that
underpowering cant possibly hurt a sub. EXCEPT I WAS TRAINED TO BELEIVE
IT DOES. and after all that training you tend to get stubborn. so this
is what i beleive now, can underpowering a woofer blow? I dont give a
****, the only thing i know will blow a woofer for sure is having a
wing nut attached to the volume and gain control!!!!!!!!!!![flame]

True enough!