Does Over Exceeded Amplifier Volume Damage Speaker?

[Cybertech119]

Hi guys, Now I got the amp and the speakers.
The seller advise I shouldn’t turn all the volume, He said 70% is enough so the Amp and the speakers would last long.

MY QUESTION IS: What If I host a party that needed to increase the maximum volume??

 

[Cybertech119]

I need enlightenment on it

 

[Blumlein 88]

We need more information. What speakers, what amp? Certainly a very powerful amp can damage a speaker by supplying more watts than it can handle, but how that fits with the volume position depends upon particulars.

 

[JayGilb]

Was the system purchased used ? Does the seller know something that happens above 70% that they don't want you to discover ?

 

[TurtlePaul]

If the amp clips at 70%, it will blow the tweeters. This is when the amp has no more power and the output transistors go fully on.

If the woofers bottom out at 70%, more volume will damage the speaker. This is when bass notes cause the speaker cone to move too far in and out and is caused by bass below the speakers tuning frequency or just too much power.

Running speakers above their power rating sustained can also result in melting voice coils.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

There is no correlation in percentage of volume on an amplifier and what level will damage a speaker. Some speakers are more easily damaged than others, and of course different amplifiers can have vastly different power outputs.

 

[restorer-john]

@MakeMineVinyl Sorry, no credibility in your answer unless your amps go up to 11.

 

[mhardy6647]

It is, of course, completely possible to damage loudspeaker drivers and/or crossover components with "too much power". The culprit is heat.
Whether one will damage a driver or loudspeaker system (or not) depends on the magnitude of the "over drive" (which could depend on the nature of program material, not just the short- or long-duration power applied to the speakers), the robustness of the loudspeakers, and the capabilities of the amplifier (in terms of "too much" or "too little" capability ).
The old truism is that most loudspeakers will complain audibly before irreversible damage is done -- but tweeters tend towards the fragile and may simply go silent (voice coil burnout) in an instant.
It is also possible for damage to be done that leaves a driver (e.g., a tweeter) still functional but much decreased in output. Woofers can suffer deformation of the voice coil that results in voice coil dragging or even loss of excursion (and thus of LF response).

I've experienced all of the above-mentioned phenomena over the decades. Oops.

 

[Chrispy]

Hi guys, Now I got the amp and the speakers.
The seller advise I shouldn’t turn all the volume, He said 70% is enough so the Amp and the speakers would last long.

MY QUESTION IS: What If I host a party that needed to increase the maximum volume??

If you exceed your system's limits bad things can happen. It may or may not be at 70%, whatever that means. Some modern gear does come with a volume limit you can password if you don't trust your guests with the volume knob....

 

[rdenney]

Fundamental rule: if it sounds bad (distortion, strain, hard rattling) turn it down!

Rick “most amps will clip hard with the volume turned all the way up” Denney

 

[iMickey503]

You want an Easy way to find out if your Amplifier goes into clipping?
Build a distortion detector. Or simply get the SMD-1 Distortion detector.

You can do the same with a O scope and those are as cheap as $50 bucks on Amazon. That will tell you the max volume you can set your receiver to and still be safe with either a five or a 0dB input. The 0 dB scale is the bullet proof setting.

Here are some References:

https://rockfordfosgate.com/rnt/rnw/docs/1055/2012_rftech_diydistortionmeter.pdf

Also:

This will give you peace of mind.
DO NOT USE grandmama dollar tree 9volts!

 

[jsrtheta]

If you exceed your system's limits bad things can happen. It may or may not be at 70%, whatever that means. Some modern gear does come with a volume limit you can password if you don't trust your guests with the volume knob....

NEVER trust your guests with the volume knob. In fact, don't even let them near the volume knob.

 

[Holmz]

We had a Batchelor party back in the 90s and the dancer’s driver/bodyguard turned up my system higher than it is has gone before of since.

The speakers still sound just fine, but they were sort of designed for a big of volume to be given to them.

We could not talk, so it must have been ~100 dB(A) mean SPL.

I would run it hard for an hour at some known loud SPL and that should give you an idea while they are new. It’ll also loosen up the suspension.

 

[restorer-john]

We had a Batchelor party back in the 90s and the dancer’s driver/bodyguard turned up my system higher than it is has gone before of since.

The speakers still sound just fine, but they were sort of designed for a big of volume to be given to them.

Audiophiles and HiFi aficionados seriously underestimate how powerful their systems really are. They are constantly tweaking the volume a tiny bit this way and that, thinking they are on the edge, and yet, they are mostly about 10-20% of what their gear is capable of.

Probably a good thing, but it is fun to show people what a serious HiFi system is capable of- often one they have had for years and run on 'idle'.

 

[tvrgeek]

If the amp clips at 70%, it will blow the tweeters. This is when the amp has no more power and the output transistors go fully on.

If the woofers bottom out at 70%, more volume will damage the speaker. This is when bass notes cause the speaker cone to move too far in and out and is caused by bass below the speakers tuning frequency or just too much power.

Running speakers above their power rating sustained can also result in melting voice coils.

Usually damage the VC former first.

 

[tomtoo]

As long you hear no distortion you wont propably kill something.
There is the problem that some amounts of alcohole can influence the hearing of distortion.

 

[charleski]

If the amp clips at 70%, it will blow the tweeters.

To be completely correct, clipping per se doesn't blow tweeters. The tweeters blow when they're fed too much power. Most music doesn't contain a lot of power at high frequencies, so the tweeter doesn't need to handle that much. But when the amp clips it produces a long spray of high-frequency distortion products that do carry a lot of power, and that's what damages the voice coil.

I only mention this because you'll run across declarations that clipping causing damage is a myth: clipping at low power is harmless, clipping at high power is where the problem arises. So if your amp's power output is well below the rating for your speakers it's very unlikely that you'll damage them by pushing the amp too hard, but a more powerful amp can easily fry them when pushed.

 

[WireWoundResistor]

To be completely correct, clipping per se doesn't blow tweeters. The tweeters blow when they're fed too much power. Most music doesn't contain a lot of power at high frequencies, so the tweeter doesn't need to handle that much. But when the amp clips it produces a long spray of high-frequency distortion products that do carry a lot of power, and that's what damages the voice coil.

I only mention this because you'll run across declarations that clipping causing damage is a myth: clipping at low power is harmless, clipping at high power is where the problem arises. So if your amp's power output is well below the rating for your speakers it's very unlikely that you'll damage them by pushing the amp too hard, but a more powerful amp can easily fry them when pushed.

I would have to disagree with the second half of your post. I know for a fact, and I've seen it countless times, that it's easier to destroy a speaker with an underpowered amp than with an overpowered amp. You can cook a tweeter in a 200w rated speaker with 10 minutes of barely audible clipping from a 40w integrated. In professional audio applications this is one of the most common reasons for speaker failure. An underpowered power-amp in overdrive will kill your speakers really fast. It's better to have double the rated power of a speaker in an amp than the other way around.

 

[Cybertech119]

It is, of course, completely possible to damage loudspeaker drivers and/or crossover components with "too much power". The culprit is heat.
Whether one will damage a driver or loudspeaker system (or not) depends on the magnitude of the "over drive" (which could depend on the nature of program material, not just the short- or long-duration power applied to the speakers), the robustness of the loudspeakers, and the capabilities of the amplifier (in terms of "too much" or "too little" capability ).
The old truism is that most loudspeakers will complain audibly before irreversible damage is done -- but tweeters tend towards the fragile and may simply go silent (voice coil burnout) in an instant.
It is also possible for damage to be done that leaves a driver (e.g., a tweeter) still functional but much decreased in output. Woofers can suffer deformation of the voice coil that results in voice coil dragging or even loss of excursion (and thus of LF response).

I've experienced all of the above-mentioned phenomena over the decades. Oops.

Most damages always affect the Amp. I think speakers always survive getting burnt

 

[Cybertech119]

NEVER trust your guests with the volume knob. In fact, don't even let them near the volume knob

Now, tell me while the Manufacturer added the volume capacity to 100%

Why didn’t they stop at 70% hence the Maximum volume will cause damage