Speaker power handling

09-07-10: Yagimax
Several months ago my tiny Paradigm Titans were destroyed with too much power applied so I chickened out trying it again.

As you may have known, power doesn't destroy speakers. As mentioned by a few others, too much power is not a problem. It is highly likely the SPL limits of the Paradigms that are exceeded that caused the damage. The user controls the amount of power delivered to the speaker via remote, and the fate of the speaker lies in the wisdom of the listener when turning up the volume on the amp.

In other words, too much power on a powerful amp is not the cause to the destruction of the Paradigm Titans. It is the amount power delivered to the speakers which the user has control upon that damaged them. To avoid this, a speaker with higher SPL ratings/capabilities will be more appropriate(usually big speakers with large drivers). Otherwise, avoid listening to music at high volume levels. The Dynaudio Focus 140 may play louder than the Paradigms but still you have to practice caution when cranking it up. Pay more attention to the excursion of the drivers and distortion in music if you don't want to damage the speakers with your powerful Classe amp.

Although small, they sound surprisingly larger and for a 2 way design they are very coherent.

Dynaudio make their own "pro" drivers and are much higher quality than what most manufacturers use. So you can get away with a smaller Dynaudio than you could with almost all other models. The advantage of the small woofer is that is does a great midrange and this means the speakers have an awesome off axis response that is very even and smooth.

The lateral response is awesome

You have chosen a very good small monitor but it is not suited to your large space if you ask it to play loud (at realistic levels) - you should really look into a three way.

I'd suggest to look into ATC SCM 40's ( another budget priced studio monitor ) they can play louder and will exhibit the same revealing character that Dynaudio 140 do and may still fit you budget. However, the bass on the SCM40 will be much less boomy and may not work for you if you find yourself really happy with the 140's. (The 140 being +5db at 80 HZ is going to tend to sound like one note bass no matter what you do to try and EQ it - this is a common trait of most small ported monitors that have huge bass extension and is not meant as a specific criticism of the 140 - as other designs do this too)

I am not sure that any of the other speakers you mention are actually going to be an improvement on the 140's.

Thanks again for the replies. Another speaker in my current home theatre setup that I have dragged into my 2 channel system on occasion is an older pair of Paradigm Studio 100 v2 speakers that just crank and sound fantastic for the first 10 minutes. Then listening fatigue sets in with too much of a forward sound and harsh HF.

My Classe amp drove them with ease. If I could find similar performance with smoothness my search would be over.

"...peaks around 95+db." I wouldn't recommend you go overboard with that classe on the Dyna's.

Ok, "peaks" normally last for milliseconds & don't usually kill speakers, but about 100W is more that what many drivers can take for any amount of time -- and that doesn't get you your 95dB...!

I think a bigger speaker (i.e. in size) is indicated. Try the ATCs recommended above. They're pretty rugged (but not bullet proof!:)).

My Classe amp drove them with ease. If I could find similar performance with smoothness my search would be over.

The Paradigm's tilt upwards in the treble - if you turn the treble down then they may work better for you. If they sound harsh then you may have trouble driving them (they are like a 2 ohm load in the bass and may cause amp clipping/IMD distortion making the mids and treble harsh). Great speakers but not a smooth load.