What does clipping sound like?

Not sure if this correct, but I used to play a 1khz sine wave , not sure at what level - 3 dB I think. Turn the volume up until the sine wave breaks up, it starts to buzz. This on my system this correlates to where I think it's clipping when I play music. It will probably clip before this on music peaks. Try it, see what you think.

Best of luck! I'm signing out now.

I notice this distortion most with vocals. When there is a full tone frequently this break up happens. Hope that it is the compliance mismatch of the cartridge and arm.

Clipping occurs anywhere, as another poster or two commented. Even if it's all digital and all the processor 'boxes' are dsps, you can clip. If you turn things down one at a time and (besides making things quieter) you notice a huge improvement in sound quality, you were clipping someplace. One reason I use computers. Plenty of peak meter dsps to insert in the signal chain (rms meters are near useless for this).
If it's the old classic power amp type clipping, a tube amp will go into clipping before you know it's there perhaps, since tubes soft-clip. They're not 'fast enough' to saw off a waveform like it had been cut with scissors. The edges round off. It may not be offensive enough to notice until you really overdrive it. Solid state amps clip very sharply, leaving you with a lot of odd harmonics like a square wave. It's very hard to listen to, which is why guitarists who want that pleasant fuzzy tone use tubes. Solid state sounds like a buzz saw. You'll know if your SS amp is clipping.
And then there are speakers. Many of them have sensitive spots at different frequency bands where they simply buzz. It's a common defect, one you'll never pin down without a signal generator (which these days your laptop can become pretty easily).
And then there are the 1000 other reasons besides 'clipping' that something sounds bad, especially if it's not on loud passages. A vinyl environment has quite the number of mechanical culprits to suspect, not of 'clipping' but of noises and distortion.

Music is not clear....
there’s a roughness to the highs and midrange which leads to blown resistors in speakers crossovers.  

     Alcohol costs more damage to tweeters and crossovers than normal. 

  Luckily Energy had such good service(Klipsch actually)
sent me a brand new crossover, opened speaker, labeled wires to what drivers....replaced crossovers,.........as new!
don’t turn volume up so much thee days. 

   Have old crossovers and may b sending to be fixed. Will b nice to have backup!


    Speakers 250W 
amp 650:W 8Ohm 
Lots booze, ac/dc, UFO,/ humble pie/ Motörhead, Van Halen/...foghat/ 

     Smelled,burning........was speaker resistor.....
Stinks!  Good service!
happy!