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paranoid listener-damaging speakers?

I am one of those guys who is always wondering if he is listening too loud for his speakers capability. my system briefly consists of a prima luna prologue 2 integrated, custom eton 2 way speakers with a silk dome tweeter and 8 inch midrange, with a mhdt labs constantine dac. my room is 15x12 feet roughly. i listen about 6 feet away.
I like to listen at a level where i can feel the bass and midbass and feel that the speakers are loud enough to recreate their original acoustic on the recording. is there a rough guide to know if i am listening too loud without a meter? i will occasinally think i hear some distortion on loud passages, but it may be on the recording, i may just be paranoid? advice please? thanks.
djwilbourn
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,443 posts
 
Shadorne -

"Thus the ideal 100-watt audio system would need to be capable of handling brief peaks of 10,000 watts in order to avoid clipping (see Programme levels)."

That would is true if average level is insane 100W. In typical home audio system peaks are reaching 100W and average power is around 1W - same ratio.

We could look differently at these ratios. Half as loud means 1/10 of the power.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
In typical home audio system peaks are reaching 100W and average power is around 1W - same ratio.

Yes - exactly - that was my point - this is barely beginning to compete with the dynamics of real instruments unless you have high efficieny horns and even then you would be obliged to add a large 1000 watt sub in most domestic spaces to cover below 90 Hz.

Speakers are woefully inefficient unless you go to horns...
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,443 posts
 
Shadorne - With the amount of money some people spend on audio pursuit every year it might be cheaper to hire symphony orchestra for home performances - nothing beats real thing.
james63
534 posts
 

uhmmm... worry about your ears not the speakers.
djwilbourn OP
42 posts
 
guys, i really appreciate your input so far. i am surmising that 1. i need an spl meter and 2. i am hearing the distortion in the tweeter so maybe i am clipping the amp a bit, although i thought 40 watts of tube power would be more than enough to drive this fairly simple two way. feel free to continue the discussion and advice.
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