Think I've heard the assertion that driving loudspeakers with an
"underpowered" amplifier can be destructive to speakers. Is this
correct?

Can I ask -- what causes the damage? An attempt to reproduce "clipped"
waveforms? If I don't attempt to "push" the low-wattage amp too hard,
will I be OK?

- john

"zgraf" ha scritto nel messaggio
ups.com...
Think I've heard the assertion that driving loudspeakers with an
"underpowered" amplifier can be destructive to speakers. Is this
correct?

Correct!


Can I ask -- what causes the damage? An attempt to reproduce "clipped"
waveforms? If I don't attempt to "push" the low-wattage amp too hard,
will I be OK?

I'd say you'll be ok... But keep an eye on the red leds....
F.

zgraf wrote:

Think I've heard the assertion that driving loudspeakers with an
"underpowered" amplifier can be destructive to speakers. Is this
correct?

Maybe - sometimes - is the answer.

Can I ask -- what causes the damage? An attempt to reproduce "clipped"
waveforms?

Yes sort of maybe sometimes basically. You want the whole technical
explanation ?

If I don't attempt to "push" the low-wattage amp too hard,
will I be OK?

Yes is the short and simple but relatively unhelpful answer.

Graham

"zgraf" wrote in message
ups.com...
Think I've heard the assertion that driving loudspeakers with an
"underpowered" amplifier can be destructive to speakers. Is this
correct?

Can I ask -- what causes the damage? An attempt to reproduce "clipped"
waveforms? If I don't attempt to "push" the low-wattage amp too hard,
will I be OK?

- john


A low pwered amp is one that can only put out what is considered to be low
power at a rated distortion considered to be negligible. A low powered amp
is capable of much higher output at much higher distortion. That's what
kills. Low power in-and-of itself is not a problem. As long as you're not
exceeding its rated output you'll be fine.

The basic rule is this... Don't drive the system into audible distortion.

That's it. If you're not distorting, you're not clipping the amp, and you're
not overdriving the speakers.

If you don't know audible distortion when you hear it, then you deserve
whatever happens to your system.

Think I've heard the assertion that driving loudspeakers with an
"underpowered" amplifier can be destructive to speakers. Is this
correct?

As long as you don't abuse neither the amplifier nor the loudspeaker,
nothing bad is likely to happen. Most equipment indicates that it is
being abused by sounding bad.

The most common source of loudspeaker damage is providing the speaker
with too much power for too long of a time. If a loudspeaker is like
most and composed of two or more speakers operating in different
frequency ranges (e.g. a woofer and a tweeter) it is possible to damage
either speaker by abusing it only in a limited range of frequencies.

zgraf wrote:
Think I've heard the assertion that driving loudspeakers with an
"underpowered" amplifier can be destructive to speakers. Is this
correct?

Can I ask -- what causes the damage? An attempt to reproduce "clipped"
waveforms? If I don't attempt to "push" the low-wattage amp too hard,
will I be OK?

Every time this is discussed it starts a flame war, so I will just refer
you to the FAQ. But yes, the issue is clipping. Don't clip the amp
and you'll be fine.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Every time this is discussed it starts a flame war, so I will just refer
you to the FAQ. But yes, the issue is clipping. Don't clip the amp
and you'll be fine.

This is literally true. But the practical issue is distortion. Most (a
euphemism for "rock") listeners don't know what distortion sounds like and
they overdrive the amp and/or speaker.

Jazz and classical listeners are much less like to damage something because
A: they rarely play their systems at high levels for long periods, and B:
they know what distortion sounds like, because distortion isn't a common
component of their music.

Jazz and classical listeners are much less like to damage something
because
A: they rarely play their systems at high levels for long periods, and B:
they know what distortion sounds like, because distortion isn't a common
component of their music.

True but IMHO in classical music you have much more dynamic. So you can turn
up the volume a lot to hear the pianissimos. A full orchestra can be VERY
loud....
F.

Jazz and classical listeners are much less like to damage something
because
A: they rarely play their systems at high levels for long periods, and
B:
they know what distortion sounds like, because distortion isn't a common
component of their music.

True but in classical music you have much more dynamic. So you can turn
up the volume a lot to hear the pianissimos. A full orchestra can be VERY
loud....

True, but it's usually loud only for a few seconds. Simply turning up the
volume to hear the quieter passages does not overdrive the amp or speaker on
99% of the music.

Federico wrote:

Jazz and classical listeners are much less like to damage something
because
A: they rarely play their systems at high levels for long periods, and B:
they know what distortion sounds like, because distortion isn't a common
component of their music.

True but IMHO in classical music you have much more dynamic. So you can turn
up the volume a lot to hear the pianissimos. A full orchestra can be VERY
loud....

Indeed but the *average level* isn't so loud.

Graham

William Sommerwerck wrote:
Jazz and classical listeners are much less like to damage something
because
A: they rarely play their systems at high levels for long periods, and
B:
they know what distortion sounds like, because distortion isn't a common
component of their music.

True but in classical music you have much more dynamic. So you can turn
up the volume a lot to hear the pianissimos. A full orchestra can be VERY
loud....

True, but it's usually loud only for a few seconds. Simply turning up the
volume to hear the quieter passages does not overdrive the amp or speaker on
99% of the music.

Problem is that to damage the tweeter mechanically only takes a fraction
of a second. A very popular way of doing this is by repatching cables
with the monitors up. Compression drivers are much more subject to
mechanical overload failures than most dome tweeters, but you can wreck
a dome tweeter this way too.

Thermal damage takes longer and you can easily hear clipping and turn
it down.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."