Possible to blow out speakers?

[DRA]

Is it possible to blow out infinity 162's with a harman kardon 3480 receiver? The 162's max out at 150w and the receiver powers 120w per channel. I know it seems obvious that it wouldn't be able to, but I just wanted to make absolutely sure I got this right... if I set the volume on the receiver at the absolute maximum is it possible to blow out the speakers? (also as i understand it the ratings are averages, so maybe a spike in the signal or whatever can blow them out?) thanks

 

[annunaki]

It is definitely possible.

If you are driving your Harman unit into clipping (and many people do without necessarily knowing it) power output increases above the 120 watts. In fact when an amplifier is fully clipped it will double its output from the rating at .1% THD.

Speaker failure is also related to a the component of time. The amount of time spent playing at an average power level above the rms rating can lead to speaker failure.

I would suggest checking out the following articles located here as they cover this issue in a very in depth manner. It never hurts to further one's audio education. :

http://www.audioholics.com/education/loudspeaker-basics/loudspeaker-power-handling

http://www.audioholics.com/education/loudspeaker-basics/loudspeaker-power-ratings

http://www.audioholics.com/education/loudspeaker-basics/loudspeakers-power-ratings-part-iii-the-test-results

 

[highfigh]

There are only a few ways to blow speakers. One way is when the amplifier has a major problem. Using a low powered amp and cranking it close to wide open or driving them with extremely high power are two other ways.

 

[sholling]

One of the easiest ways to damage speakers is to play them too loud with too little power. The other is to drive them too hard for too long.

 

[TLS Guy]

You can blow just about any speaker if you have a mind to do it.

The power a speaker can handle is always an unknown quantity.

Speakers are rated for average program material. However not all material is average.

As an example electronic music has a very unusual envelope. It is possible with an electronic keyboard to produce a signal with all or most of the power above the tweeter crossover point. If that sound were sustained, then most tweeters would blow at about 5 to 10 watts power.

 

[PENG]

One of the easiest ways to damage speakers is to play them too loud with too little power.

You can blow the tweeter that way but a normal person in the room would most likely have turned the volume down before the tweeter is blown due to the unbearable distorted sound.

 

[DRA]

So i guess as long as i don't leave it at full blast and for extended periods of time I'm ok? just watch out for clipping? I'm just paranoid that i'm going to ruin these new speakers i just got... what would be considered too underpowered for the infinity 162? 50w?

 

[PENG]

So i guess as long as i don't leave it at full blast and for extended periods of time I'm ok? just watch out for clipping? I'm just paranoid that i'm going to ruin these new speakers i just got... what would be considered too underpowered for the infinity 162? 50w?

It is hard to say without knowing the sensitivity of the 162 (yes we can google it), your room dimensions, how far do you sit from your speakers, how loud (SPL) do you listen to etc. Full blast does not mean the volume has to br right up, so a safer bet is to turn it down if the sound begins to sound harsh/distorted.

 

[GordonW]

One of the easiest ways to damage speakers is to play them too loud with too little power. The other is to drive them too hard for too long.

As mentioned, this is true for tweeters. Tweeters are low-power devices, and can easily be damaged by the excess harmonics (high-frequency signal) produced by a clipping small amplifier.

OTOH, if you blow WOOFERS all the time, you likely have MORE power on the speakers than they can reasonably handle... or, you're running them in such a way to exceed the woofers excursion limits (subharmonic synthesizer, excess bass boost/EQ, music with abnormally high low bass content, etc)...

Regards,
Gordon.