Low power amps and speaker damage?
A usual rule is 12:00 High that is an extremely coarse, rough rule of thumb... almost useless, as between 2 components the output capability of one and the input sensitivity of the other, and relative impedance characteristics dictate how far the volume control on the driving unit would be set for proper volume |
Beyond extremely coarse. There is nothing in all of audio less significant than the number the volume control points at. Anyone thinks it matters please study carefully the following documentary video clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xgx4k83zzc |
As I understand it tweeter have less power handling capacity than mids or woofers. If an amplifier clips it can produce a square wave type signal with a large amount of higher harmonic content that would normally never be present in music. The key factor is whether the amplifier can exceed the tweeter's power handling capabilities. If you clip a 70 watt amplifier for a significant amount of time it's far more likely to damage a typical tweeter than a 5 watt amplifier. |
Historically its common for low power amps to damage speakers particularly tweeters when they hard clip and distort. Tube amps typically soft clip and are less likely to cause damage when clipping to speakers because they distort differently. Read up on clipping and differences between hard and soft clipping for more. My personal experience is that advances in amp and speaker design over the years makes this less of an issue than in the past, but still something to be aware of and avoid. Clipping is public enemy #1 to good sound....it is distortion and can easily occur anytime to the detriment of sound quality even if no physical damage done. So always better safe than sorry when it comes to having sufficient power to drive speakers to desired levels with minimal distortion. |
