In Reply to: Sorry, but your links prove you wrong.... posted by Rod M on August 25, 2003 at 18:50:49:
Do you really think I'm so dumb as to post a link that contradicts what I posted?
Don't answer that!What the link explains is that even if bass transients are clipped,
the treble is not and will get louder and louder as you turn the volume control clockwise so eventually the tweeter will fail.But the same thing will happen if you turn the volume control clockwise with an amplifier that never clips at all.
The only difference is the clipping harmonics that make the treble slightly louder and much more harsh sounding without you touching the volume control ... but only when there is clipping ... which is almost always intermittent when playing music.
A small quantity of clipping harmonics gets through the high pass filter to the tweeter -- the article calculated 1.4 watts for a severely clipped 100 Hz. sine wave which they represented by a 100Hz. square wave. And further, they assumed a 1000Hz. turnover frequency. For home speakers playing real music, not sine waves, and a typical 2000Hz or higher turnover frequency for the tweeter, the clipping harmonics are likley to be much less than 1.4 watts -- I was being very conservative in estimating one watt.
In plain English the article says treble too loud for too long = tweeter damage. The article speculates on what listeners would notice ... in a way that promotes sales of Rane limiters.
It's my opinion that the "warning effect" of an audiophile hearing
harsh clipping harmonics and then wanting to turn down the volume or at least not make it any louder ... at least offsets the slight danger of one watt of intermittent clipping harmonics. With no clipping at all, the treble sounds better ... but the tweeters are still damaged if they play too loud for too long.At least clipping gives some warning that the music is much too loud and speaker damage is possible. Of course if everyone is drunk at a party, no one would notice.
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Follow Ups
- Let me take you by the hand and E*X*P*L*A*I*N the link to you - Richard BassNut Greene 19:23:16 08/25/03 (2)
- You hear, but you can not see.... - Rod M 20:05:53 08/25/03 (1)
- You can read ... but still didn't understand white paper - Richard BassNut Greene 08:01:19 08/26/03 (0)