Schizoid Man wrote:
I ambled into a local audio dealer here in San Francisco the other
day and
received a fairly interesting, if ambiguous, lecture.

I was told that most people don't realize just how harmful it is to
speakers
to use them for watching TV or playing computer games, because both
formats
use very low compression, unlike CDs or DVDs.

Is this really true? I may not have majored in electrical
engineering, but
how exactly will the compression of the signal damage the speaker?

audio data compression cannot damage your speakers unless the d/a of
your amplifier is 1-bit and supplying a dc signal to your speakers.
audio level compression however could theoretically damage you speakers
if you listened to a quiet source with the volume turned up and then
switched to a loud source. However, you could play video games all day
every day for years and years without ever causing damage to your
speakers as long as the volume isn't too high!(it's not the compression
it's the amplifier)