Speakers blow first....but a blown speaker may in turn then damage an amplifier!
Clipping is when the amp cannot follow the proper waveform (voltage) due to exceedingly high current demands and the output will flat top. It is unlikley to damage your amplifier (at least initially) but can easily damage a speaker...usually the smallest driver, the tweeter, blows first as the coils get too hot with the distorted squared off signal.
Clippiing results in all kinds of non linear distortion that is audible but can easily be confused with or perceived as "loudness" (call this "perceptive loudness"). Your observation that "ears fail first before my equipment does" may be a sign that the music is clipping and has dramatically increased your "perceptive loudness" (since your B&W and PMC speakers are both near field monitors that are unlikley to be able to play very loud).
The "perceptive loudness" effect is what is often used on modern pop CD's, whereby the waveforms are deliberately clipped in the recording/mastering process in order to create a "loud" sounding CD; the distortion makes the "perceptive loudness" much higher (even at low actual loudness levels).
The "perceptive loudness" effect is what makes most consumers feel that there Hi-Fi system plays extremely loud when in reality it does not (it just begins distorting at some point and thereafter is perceived as extremely loud).
A really good recording (uncompressed) on an excellent system (large dynamic range without clipping = large headroom) can be played extremely loud and still sound pleasant to the ears.....you may have experienced this at a concert where live music levels are thrilling and exhilarating and you can hear such incredible detail. (even an unamplified piano has a huge dynamic range, well exceeding that of most consumer audio)
Bob Katz at digital domain has an honor roll of CD's that are not compressed and hence have a very low "perceptive loudness" and can therefore be played at extremely loud actual SPL's without sounding "perceptively loud".
"Actual Loudness" and "Perceived Loudness" and their relation to distortion/clipping is quite misunderstood even by most audiophiles.
Clipping is when the amp cannot follow the proper waveform (voltage) due to exceedingly high current demands and the output will flat top. It is unlikley to damage your amplifier (at least initially) but can easily damage a speaker...usually the smallest driver, the tweeter, blows first as the coils get too hot with the distorted squared off signal.
Clippiing results in all kinds of non linear distortion that is audible but can easily be confused with or perceived as "loudness" (call this "perceptive loudness"). Your observation that "ears fail first before my equipment does" may be a sign that the music is clipping and has dramatically increased your "perceptive loudness" (since your B&W and PMC speakers are both near field monitors that are unlikley to be able to play very loud).
The "perceptive loudness" effect is what is often used on modern pop CD's, whereby the waveforms are deliberately clipped in the recording/mastering process in order to create a "loud" sounding CD; the distortion makes the "perceptive loudness" much higher (even at low actual loudness levels).
The "perceptive loudness" effect is what makes most consumers feel that there Hi-Fi system plays extremely loud when in reality it does not (it just begins distorting at some point and thereafter is perceived as extremely loud).
A really good recording (uncompressed) on an excellent system (large dynamic range without clipping = large headroom) can be played extremely loud and still sound pleasant to the ears.....you may have experienced this at a concert where live music levels are thrilling and exhilarating and you can hear such incredible detail. (even an unamplified piano has a huge dynamic range, well exceeding that of most consumer audio)
Bob Katz at digital domain has an honor roll of CD's that are not compressed and hence have a very low "perceptive loudness" and can therefore be played at extremely loud actual SPL's without sounding "perceptively loud".
"Actual Loudness" and "Perceived Loudness" and their relation to distortion/clipping is quite misunderstood even by most audiophiles.