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Dumb Quest : Amp Clips Or Speakers Blow Up First?

I was reading in another thread somewhere here on Bryston amps that go into clipping when driven hard. How do we know if the speakers can take it when we crank up the volume to earth-shattering levels? In most cases, distortion will kill the drivers of the speakers when listening to insane levels but how do we know if the amp will clip first, or the speakers will blow up first? Do we need any measuring tools or device to measure on how loud can the system go before something burns?

And what does clipping mean? I am guessing the amp will shut down itself. Will the amp blow up into flames of fire? What is normally replaced inside the amp when it has clipped? My amp never clips before so maybe I'm not cranking up the volume loud enough. Most of the time my ears fail first before my equipment do, so it is unlikely I will experience any amps clipping or worse, the speakers blowing up. That's a real nightmare if my speakers would blow up.
ryder

Showing 1 response by ryder

ryder OP
1,748 posts
 
Thanks for all responses. Shadorne, actually what I meant by the line 'when my ears fail first' is that my ears cannot take the sound pressure anymore although I can still crank up the volume. The music is already very loud and if I turn up the volume further it's not the equipment or speakers that would blow first but my ear drums would! This is due to the fact that my listening room is quite small, and if I were to place the system in a larger room I am sure I can still turn up the volume higher with/without going into clipping.

I would agree that nearfield monitors can't play too loud as they have their limitations in their design. However, I find the PMC's are able to go louder and deeper without showing any distortion whereas the N805's seem to lose it a bit. THe PMC's can really go loud and still stay clean at complex musical passages, and although I was tempted to test it to the limits, my ears tell me to stop due to room limitations. Got to be the transmission line thing. I highly doubt it's due to 'perceptive loudness' in my case.
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