Clipping (what It Is)

[aquill1]

What's his prize?

[Guest MegaloManiac]

knowledge?

[meade916]

clipping will only ruin a speaker if its too much power for the speaker

an amp that puts out 100 watts, at full clipping, is LIKE putting out 2x the power (200 watts) but if its hooked up to a 500 watt sub, it wont hurt the sub

and if you understand that, youll understand how a 75 watt amp CAN cook a 100 watt speaker

yes, but a CLEAN non clipped 200w wont always hurt a 100w speaker so its not necessarily the extra power its also the DC voltage that occurs when you start clipping. Speakers dont like DC and that does more damage then anything else. I would say tweeters are the most likely to blow from the DC during clipping because they are so sensitive, but the larger ones will too. Thats why you dont always see one that is damaged mechanically from over excursion during clipping, but you may have a roasted coil or tinsel.

[MickyMcD]

yes, but a CLEAN non clipped 200w wont always hurt a 100w speaker so its not necessarily the extra power its also the DC voltage that occurs when you start clipping. Speakers dont like DC and that does more damage then anything else. I would say tweeters are the most likely to blow from the DC during clipping because they are so sensitive, but the larger ones will too. Thats why you dont always see one that is damaged mechanically from over excursion during clipping, but you may have a roasted coil or tinsel.

Correct Steve, DC is the worst thing you can feed a driver. One reason for that is simple physics. Speakers work through electromagnetic fields, generated by passing current through the coil (solenoid). When you pass DC current across the solenoid, you will create a magnetic field of so many Webers in one direction, that will move the cone assembly in one direction and hold. This movement is often quite violent and will overheat the loudspeaker quite quickly.

Secondly, and mainly, DC generated through power amplifier stage output is FATAL to drivers. Pure DC unmodulated current from a power amplifier of ANY class is generated in two ways. Firstly, you can fault the amplifier, often by dropping a FET or shorting a rail. Secondly, you can clip the waveform and provide DC output. When this DC is created, it is done so at the most extreme level of the voltage rails, thus providing very high voltage and amperage DC output that will roast your solenoid like a christmas dinner.

Simple solution; Use amplifiers that are correctly rated, and will put out an output power that your speakers can handle. It never hurts to have a wee bit of headroom so you can safely handle transients without inducing harmonic distortion, but not too much. Just know your system back to front, front to back. Know what it can handle, what it can't and what it does/sounds like/smells like when faulting.

Cheers,

Mick