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B&W Nautilus 804s and clipping

Hello there - this is my first post and I'd be grateful for any help you folks can offer me.

I'm building my first home stereo setup right now after years of waiting. The first component will be a used pair of B&W Nautilus 804s which I've found for a pretty good price.

My question is this: how can I tell whether the speakers have suffered somehow due to clipping? The reason I'm worried is that the guy I'm buying from has been running them off a Harmon Kardon AVR-3000 receiver (with 50W output in stereo mode). Isn't this likely to have caused some damage if he's been working the amp too hard? If so, will the tweeter etc. sound noticeably different from normal or will they just completely fail to produce sound?

I was only able to audition them using his amp, not having yet bought my own. Is it necessary to hear these with, for example, a power amp to know whether they are in good condition sonically?

Sorry to labour the point(s). Hope some of you can help!
borntorun
borntorun
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
Everyone has their trick - firstly you need to be intimately familiar with the sound of a particular recording - I like well recorded piano and percussion as the best indicator of tweeter quality (as most tweeters compress all too easily and this is usually the problem). Dave Grusin's Hommage to Duke C-Jam Blues has some hard hitting piano notes. If they sound harsh or grainy or don't sound totally effortless at very loud levels then there might be a problem.

If it is any consolation tweeters are usually the cheapest driver to replace anyway. Replacement part availability should always be one of your considerations in a second hand purchase. Boys will often break their toys.
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jylee
306 posts
 
Occasional clipping is not going to damage the drivers. And when the drivers are damaged you'll notice right away. It'll either sound right or wrong. There is no middle state. B&W Nautilus tweeters are around $100 each.
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stringreen
6,436 posts
 
Elizabeth...that's not true. The B&W's do have a reputation for tweeter troubles...and they are easy to repair. I had a 802 and went through 3 tweeter...they just delaminated. The tweeters were given to me no charge by B&W, but they would have charged me labor. I did it myself..a couple of screws, and done. No soldering required. When my tweeters went bad, they simply stopped working. Put your ear to the individual speakers and make sure there is sound coming out of all of them.
borntorun OP
4 posts
 
Thanks for your help, everyone. I feel a bit more confident about buying these now since various familiar CDs sounded fine right across the spectrum.
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