Accidentally turned volume way too high. Did I harm speakers?

[SHDK]

Hallo all.

I hope you all can calm me down.

I run a pair of Focal Theva no3 floor standers on a Marantz M1 amp. Normally I listen at 16-18 volume and good and loud would be 25-30 volume.

Today I accidentally turned it up to 49 volume because of fat fingers in the HEOS app. It was only for a sekund and it got turned down again. It went so fast i didn't have time to hear any clipping or noise.

But what do you guys say. What are the chances I've harmed my speakers ?


Thanks

 

[JSmith]

What are the chances I've harmed my speakers ?

Fairly slim, as it was only for a short moment.

Are you hearing anything that seems out of sorts? Put your ear up close to each driver... or do you have a measurement mic?


JSmith

 

[kyuu]

I've done the same thing fat fingering volume controls in an app. Multiple times, actually. And it generally took me more than a second to correct as I was so startled at how damn loud it was. I haven't been able to discern any damage to the speakers from these events.

If you were playing a test tone or something I'd be more worried. But normal content for a brief moment isn't likely cause any damage. You can try running frequency sweeps and see if you notice the volume changing substantially at any point in the sweep (from 500Hz or so up, anything below that might be room modes or SBIR). Or as above, if you can do measurements that would be even better.

Edit: I a word.

 

[SHDK]

Fairly slim, as it was only for a short moment.

Are you hearing anything that seems out of sorts? Put your ear up close to each driver... or do you have a measurement mic?


JSmith

I don't have a mic. But I have listened very closely. And I can't hear any noises.

The only thing I have a bit of doubt about it that maybe the tweeter hiss from the amp noise floor(amp on but no output) is a bit louder. But that could also just be me being more sensitive.

 

[SHDK]

I've done the same thing fat fingering volume controls in an app. Multiple times, actually. And it generally took me more than a second to correct as I was so startled at how damn loud it was. I haven't been able to discern any damage to the speakers from these events.

If you were playing a test tone or something I'd be more worried. But normal content for a brief moment likely cause any damage. You can try running frequency sweeps and see if you notice the volume changing substsntially at any point in the sweep (from 500Hz or so up, anything below that might be room modes or SBIR). Or as above, if you can do measurements that would be even better.

I will try to find a tone sweep later. Great idea

 

[DVDdoug]

Th e only thing I have a bit of doubt about it that maybe the tweeter hiss from the amp noise floor(amp on but no output) is a bit louder. But that could also just be me being more sensitive.

Speaker damage is usually obvious. If the tweeter was "blown" it would be silent. It's not going to get more sensitive so it's not going to make the hiss or other highs louder Or the woofer could die, or one or the other could rattle or distort badly. Ane if a driver is partially damaged, it's unlikely that both speakers are damaged equally.

 

[SHDK]

Speaker damage is usually obvious. If the tweeter was "blown" it would be silent. It's not going to get more sensitive so it's not going to make the hiss or other highs louder Or the woofer could die, or one or the other could rattle or distort badly. Ane if a driver is partially damaged, it's unlikely that both speakers are damaged equally.

Good info..thanks as far as I can tell. There is no noises. But for some reason I'm also not sure if I think it sounds a bit different then it used to. I guess I wouldn't be in doubt if there actually was a damage.

 

[Palladium]

TW030WA21/22

If you look at Wavecor tweeter specs, those are rated for 800w short term.

It's not exactly apples-to-apples comparison but you are very likely to be fine.

 

[SHDK]

Hallo again all.

This afternoon I pulled off the grill , and armed with a flashlight I gave the units a thorough visuel inspection. As far as I could tell there is no damage to any of the units.

I also played a lot of musik and I think i might be home safe.

Thanks you all again for your support and knowledge

 

[serhii_o]

I also accidentally cranked the volume up to max a couple of times in Qobuz on the JBL 4329P. It was really nerve-wracking. It's strange that the developers didn't think to implement a software limiter for the maximum volume.

 

[kyuu]

I also accidentally cranked the volume up to max a couple of times in Qobuz on the JBL 4329P. It was really nerve-wracking. It's strange that the developers didn't think to implement a software limiter for the maximum volume.

No streaming platform has a volume limiting function that I'm aware of.

 

[serhii_o]

No streaming platform has a volume limiting function that I'm aware of.

Yes, I meant developers in general, not just Qobuz. And that's surprising, because you can easily damage the speakers that way.

 

[SHDK]

I also accidentally cranked the volume up to max a couple of times in Qobuz on the JBL 4329P. It was really nerve-wracking. It's strange that the developers didn't think to implement a software limiter for the maximum volume.

This incident actually made me aware that I can limit the volume in the HEOS app. So now I've limited it to 50%

What annoys me a bit now is that the volume slider has changed. What was before 15% volume level is now 30% on the slider. I guess it's a matter of habit.

 

[rirelien]

Happened to me a month ago. My cat stood on the volume up button on the remote, which rapidly ramped the MiniDSP Flex HT to -0dB. I was so startled it took a while to figure out what to do. Massive distortion, because of digital clipping, and limited bass driver excursion on my little speakers, too.

But speakers seem OK.

I sympathise, for you, your speakers and my own.

 

[SHDK]

Happened to me a month ago. My cat stood on the volume up button on the remote, which rapidly ramped the MiniDSP Flex HT to -0dB. I was so startled it took a while to figure out what to do. Massive distortion, because of digital clipping, and limited bass driver excursion on my little speakers, too.

But speakers seem OK.

I sympathise, for you, your speakers and my own.

Thanks.
It truly is a horrible experience. Fingers crossed both of our speakers are home safe

 

[Penelinfi]

This is one reason I would prefer a physical volume knob somewhere or at least a global software limit. It means you can turn up the volume to "100%", but it'll be a safe level.

 

[rirelien]

This is one reason I would prefer a physical volume knob somewhere or at least a global software limit. It means you can turn up the volume to "100%", but it'll be a safe level.

This would depend on programme material. 5.1 surround material often has much greater dynamic range, and I end up with the volume far higher. But yes... in general having a limit is a good idea.

But I don't think you can ever be truly safe.

 

[Penelinfi]

This would depend on programme material. 5.1 surround material often has much greater dynamic range, and I end up with the volume far higher. But yes... in general having a limit is a good idea.

But I don't think you can ever be truly safe.

If I need louder the physical volume knob makes it easy to turn up for that one off movie or song etc. But I seldom need to as I'm not a concert level listener

 

[valerianf]

@SHDK You need to try to detect if you have some distortion with you tweeters at high volume level.
The tweeters may have been damaged even if they are still working.
I had a similar issue than you (my wife placed a book on the remote!) but in my case the AVR went to protection mode.

 

[LTig]

I run a pair of Focal Theva no3 floor standers on a Marantz M1 amp. Normally I listen at 16-18 volume and good and loud would be 25-30 volume.

Today I accidentally turned it up to 49 volume because of fat fingers in the HEOS app. It was only for a sekund and it got turned down again. It went so fast i didn't have time to hear any clipping or noise.

But what do you guys say. What are the chances I've harmed my speakers ?

Very low, when playing music. No need to worry.

Happened to me as well and was no problem. Tweeters may blow if it lasts longer than a few seconds and the amp is clipping - the result is overheating of the voice coil, the lacquer of the wire melts. If you blow a woofer it usually makes an extremely loud pop. You would remember this .