Again, I'll point out that I have dimed a 25w tube amp into a cab that's rated thermal for 400w, and the clipping did absolutely nothing.
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300w vs 500w head with 450w cab?
- Thread starter GlennW
- Start date
Wow...who knew that a "which amp with which cab" thing could turn into all this stuff???
Um...yeah...if clipped waves hurt things...synthesysers(sp?) would not exist....therefore, the '80's would not exist. Believe you me, they existed. May've not been all that great but they existed...I know...I was there...witnessed it first hand.
If clipped waveforms killed stuff, rock-n-roll would not exist.....pretty sure we can all agree that certainly exists.
Speakers can be damaged in 2 ways and only 2 ways (aside from acts of God or human stupidity). That is electrically (thermally in most cases), or mechanically....they are electro-mechanical devices after all. Doesn't matter what you put into them, death will come from 1 of those 2 sources.
Some folks also seem to repeat the Xmax mantra. Exceeding Xmax will NOT kill a speaker, no how, no way. (With notable exception to drivers who's mechanical limits are their thermal limits, which are few and far between, and in a practical sense, may not always be viewed as a good thing, ie: no audible warning). Exceeding Xlim (mechanical limits) certainly will. Xmax is defined as 10% distortion...ie: beyond which the speaker can produce no more low frequency although mids/highs may still get louder. Any additional power applied in the lows must be burned off as heat. Again, that isn't the overall "limits" of the speaker.....if it was...again...rock-n-roll would not exist. I'm pretty sure we can all agree that it certainly does.
Um...yeah...if clipped waves hurt things...synthesysers(sp?) would not exist....therefore, the '80's would not exist. Believe you me, they existed. May've not been all that great but they existed...I know...I was there...witnessed it first hand.
If clipped waveforms killed stuff, rock-n-roll would not exist.....pretty sure we can all agree that certainly exists.
Speakers can be damaged in 2 ways and only 2 ways (aside from acts of God or human stupidity). That is electrically (thermally in most cases), or mechanically....they are electro-mechanical devices after all. Doesn't matter what you put into them, death will come from 1 of those 2 sources.
Some folks also seem to repeat the Xmax mantra. Exceeding Xmax will NOT kill a speaker, no how, no way. (With notable exception to drivers who's mechanical limits are their thermal limits, which are few and far between, and in a practical sense, may not always be viewed as a good thing, ie: no audible warning). Exceeding Xlim (mechanical limits) certainly will. Xmax is defined as 10% distortion...ie: beyond which the speaker can produce no more low frequency although mids/highs may still get louder. Any additional power applied in the lows must be burned off as heat. Again, that isn't the overall "limits" of the speaker.....if it was...again...rock-n-roll would not exist. I'm pretty sure we can all agree that it certainly does.
[Edited out emotional comment]. An asymmetrical input signal CAN introduce a DC OFFSET when clipped, but the signal is STILL AC....
If the driver cone doesn't move, it doesn't make a sound.... Is that what your ears tell you is happening when an amp sends a clipped signal to a driver?
The cone still moves (even at the peaks of the "square wave" output, the cone obeys the laws of physics, ie momentum, and rounds off the sharp edges of the signal to some degree), the coil survives, unless the amp is pushing too much current into the coil and it reaches its thermal limit. Physics, can't argue with it or it'll simply kick your ass.
Clipping and distortion make it harder to hear driver distress and that, IMHO, is the number one factor in perpetuating this myth.
If the driver cone doesn't move, it doesn't make a sound.... Is that what your ears tell you is happening when an amp sends a clipped signal to a driver?
The cone still moves (even at the peaks of the "square wave" output, the cone obeys the laws of physics, ie momentum, and rounds off the sharp edges of the signal to some degree), the coil survives, unless the amp is pushing too much current into the coil and it reaches its thermal limit. Physics, can't argue with it or it'll simply kick your ass.
Clipping and distortion make it harder to hear driver distress and that, IMHO, is the number one factor in perpetuating this myth.
Quoting myownself here. From what I have been told, running out of excursion too often can result in the speaker losing its "springiness" in its cage (or whatever ya call it). While that doesn't mean the speaker is fried, it certainly could be ruined. How does this relate to what else is being discussed here (sorry, I'm a technical dumbo)? Isn't xmax some kind of measure as to how much travel a speaker has (or am I showing even more just how dumb I am, lol)?
bongomania
Commercial User
It's actually a separate issue from the whole business of wattage. Say overexcursion is like speeding in a car. Certainly stepping on the gas could be one cause of speeding, but you could also speed by driving 35 in a 25 zone--you might not be using "a lot of wattage" but the speaker cab couldn't take even that much. Or you could speed by coasting downhill, not touching the gas (no direct corollary to speakers, but the point is that speakers may have overexcursion for multiple reasons too). So overexcursion is a very real and common issue, but it's not directly related to the wattage ratings of an amp and cab.
