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Speaker damage?
- Thread starter charic
- Start date
while it's still under warranty - crank it.
It should have protection, limiting etc. and not self destruct.
If not and you blow it - you can get it fixed for free. (I'd ask for an exchange)
Let us know.
It should have protection, limiting etc. and not self destruct.
If not and you blow it - you can get it fixed for free. (I'd ask for an exchange)
Let us know.
I disagree. It's very likely. Most amps will put out enough power to damage the internal speakers, particularly when you boost the bass and drive the speaker past it's mechanical limits. I've seen it done to many brand name combo amps and seperate heads and speakers. Manufactururs power ratings can't be used as a guideline. The rule I go by is, if the speaker is sounding like it's being stressed I need to back of on the volume as I've gone past its limits. The louder you play the less bass you can get away with. And the less of the contour or shape or whatever enhancer it is you may be using. If you have to push an amp to that point, add an extension cabinet or get a bigger rig with more speakers to spread out the load. Or turn down.
The lowdown, like many new combos, doesn't let you hook up an external speaker. It's all self contained. They designed it that way. You're not very likely to damage it, or they'd loose a lot of money on warranty repairs. Line 6 claim(ed) that this amp is loud, you shouldn't be afraid to turn it up.
Well, if you can't connect an external speaker you're limited with what you've got. I stand by my claim that you can damage a speaker in virtually any combo amp if you play at stupid volumes. The Line 6 may be loud for it's size and power. But it's not a super amp using some unknown to this planet yet technology. The fact that the manufacturer says it's loud doesn't mean all that much. Do you expect them to say "this amp isn't much louder than anything else out there so be careful with it"? Or "crank it up-you can't damage it. Our speakers are indestructable. We'll gladly fix it for free if you do"?
Every amp company has to take in to account the fact that because of user error there will be returns. It's reflected in the price. But to advise someone to try to blow it and if you do send it back for a replacement is dishonest and unethical.
Every amp company has to take in to account the fact that because of user error there will be returns. It's reflected in the price. But to advise someone to try to blow it and if you do send it back for a replacement is dishonest and unethical.
The likeliness that it will blow is very low. It would be unethical to sell a combo amp rated 300w if you can never achieve this output. I don't believe line 6 did this. I believe you can crank it. And line 6 put a good warranty on it because they also believe it. I wouldn't say this for all combos.
Speakers don't always blow just because of excessive wattage (resulting in a melted voice coil), they also blow because of exceeding their mechanical limits. Depending on EQ and gain settings, you can exceed the mechanical limits of many if not most speakers using less than half of their rated power.
Best advise so far. When you have a speaker rated at 300 watts or whatever you need to know that watts are a measurement of heat, it's just letting you know how much heat the voice coil can take before it melts. The voice coil is just one part of the many parts that make up a speaker, good selling point though. Most widely available speakers, loaded in their widely available enclosures, regardless of the company who makes them, will hit other physical limits long before they get enough input to burn the voice coil. For example, if a speaker says it can handle 400 watts, that means it can take 400 watts of heat before the voice coil melts, but what they don't tell you is that as little as 150 watts is already enough input to make the cone move farther than it's designed to or make the voice coil move back and forth too far and bottom out against the back plate and short out.
Best advice is as was stated, turn down or turn the bass down. You can run bass boost at low volumes or run a lot of volume without the bass knob being boosted but you shouldn't do both if you expect your combo to last for a while. The best thing to listen for, as already stated, is a grindy/distorted/ "farting" sound, that means it's time to turn something down, either the bass or the master volume.
This applies to rigs of any size unless the amplifier has some sort of "idiot-proof" (no insult intended) thing that limits the power coming from the amp, regardless of whether your knobs are on 10 or not, so as to not damage anything. That opens up another avenue of "let's screw with you" as a company could advertise a megajillion watt amp with "speaker protecting limiting". Remember watts are a good selling point so they could charge you for 1 million watts even though it's limiting itself to 250 so as not to damage the cheesey speaker that came with it.
But basically, if a company says their stuff can handle 400 watts without putting any disclaimers with it, it should handle 400 watts no matter what you do, if you crank the bass to +15 and crank the master volume and it blows up, tell them they're full of crap and demand a replacement..... a brand new replacement.
It's like you're asking if it's OK to drive your new car at 119 because the speedometer goes to 120. Driving into a tree is not the way to test your seatbelts. Anything will break if you push it to extremes.
- Mar 11, 2005
- 2,541
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- Disclosures
- Employee - Basscentre Melbourne
what are you trying to achieve?
- Mar 11, 2005
- 2,541
- 7
- 41
- Disclosures
- Employee - Basscentre Melbourne
Erics post was very good
there are numerous factors... if you have the bass control on full and start hammering low Bs, its going to fart or get damaged quicker than if you are playing smoothly with a fairly flat eq. but in general its not so good to be using the amp up at maximum power because you have very little headroom
Y'all gotta remember...300W at 600Hz isn't nearly as destructive to a speaker as 300W at 45Hz. If you're cranking the lows, that same 300W is far more dangerous than you'd think.
When you hear the speaker fart, it's time to back it off. If you don't know what speaker farting sounds like, then either have a friend show you, go to GC and try it on their demo gear (heh heh) or try it yourself at home. It's just as important for a musician to know their gear's limitations and how to recognise them, as it is to know what gear they like best.
When you hear the speaker fart, it's time to back it off. If you don't know what speaker farting sounds like, then either have a friend show you, go to GC and try it on their demo gear (heh heh) or try it yourself at home. It's just as important for a musician to know their gear's limitations and how to recognise them, as it is to know what gear they like best.
Not true, as I had a lowdown 300 for a very short while. It is VERY easy to excede the mechanical limits of this speaker. While the amp does sound good, it is not meant to be driven hard. If the speaker sounds stressed, it is stressed. Trust your ears and your gut. I blew my speaker out and it was repaired, but I no longer trusted the amp. It was used as a practice amp mainly although I did gig with it one time. The audience could not hear the bass. Also, not having the option of an extension cab is a major pain.
That's actually a very good reason to actually try a piece of gear out to see that it does what the manufacturer says it will do while you still have a chance to return it.
If a store has a 45 day return period, you are not cheating anyone to actually return it. You are not cheating anyone to actually push the amp to the levels you need - even it if blows. If it does, return it and get something that will do the job.
