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What causes clipping?

I am trying to understand why my Kinergetics SW-200 subs are clipping so easily. I had a thread in "speakers", but realized this "tech talk" forum might be a more appropriate forum to help me understand what actually causes clipping.

I am mostly using my system for home theatre with a HK AVR300 receiver and pairing the subs with Spica TC-50's. The Kinergetics seem to be easily overwhelmed when "bassy" scenes come up in movies. But, other than when aliens are landing, they don't seem very loud.

The Kinergetics have their own 150W x 2 amp which is fed from the pre-amp out on my HK receiver. The receiver only has a mono pre-amp out, so I am splitting that to the L/R Kinergetic amp inputs.

What I am calling "clipping" is when the subs make a fast, loud, popping noise. A fuse in the Kinergetics sub may also burn out if this goes on for a long time.

1. What causes the clipping? Is it the sub amp being overloaded or is the speaker itself in the sub being overloaded?

2. Would a bigger sub amp solve the problem? If so, any recommendations?

3. Can clipping be caused when the amp can't get enough current to power the speakers? For example, I have the Kinergetics amp plugged into the switched AC outlet on my HK receiver. Can the amp be overloaded as it tries to suck the power it needs through the AC cable maybe causing a dip / spike pulse to the speakers?

4. Does room size or speaker placement have any affect on clipping?

Thanks for the help.
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robotman
robotman OP
35 posts
 
I think you are right with the room size, although this problem seems more than just a limited bass response. It seems like a bass malfunction or overload at louder volumes. I'm not sure if speakers overload if the room is too small, do they?!

Definitely will look into a tech to check out the Kinergetics, though. I wish I questioned the problem more when I got the system years ago!

Thanks again for your input!
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eldartford
4,262 posts
 
If both SW are doing the same thing the problem might be the signal they are getting from your receiver.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
Eldartford has a good point. Have you checked the cables and especially the connections?
eldulcesol
197 posts
 
Robotman, after you check the cables and speakers, go through your audio menu on the dvd player and the HK volume tweak settings. I have a HK AVR5 and Kinergetics SW200 amp and I did have problems with it. If you are using the SW200 Compusound 2 mono amp, which I am using, it clipped constantly when I used the THX input. I ended using the l&r inputs on the amp with the the toggle switch in norm, not THX. This way I could use the volume control on the front of the amp if I needed a change. If you have full range fronts, try selecting sub off, fronts large on the dvd menu, fronts large on the Hk and use the front pre-outs on your receiver. You should experiment with different settings on the dvd and HK menus. I did try this amp on my music system and I can blast the Kinergetics with no problems, even at a 4 ohn load. The only time a fuse would go was when it is turned on or off. Once you get it on, leave it on, unless you want to keep replacing fuses.

Good luck and keep in touch. You just may have a frustrating task on your hands, especially using the remotes. Now, does anybody know how to lower the xover on these amps from the current 80hz? Info would be appreciated.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
While I certainly don't want to contradict Eldulcesol's first hand experience. I think it prudent to warn you that the Spicas are not full range or "large" and are not know for durability, original replacement parts may be hard to come by and matching other drivers around their unusual cross-overs might be tricky. You might want to excerise some caution in shifting some of the burden of the Kinergetics to the Spicas. THX usually rolls off a bit of the top end something the Spicas tend to do on their own. As such I suspect there is some very good suggestions here, keep the volume down and proceed with caution.
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