Hi Al and Hifihvn: I had a question about tube amp clipping. In the case where the tube amp uses output trannies, if the signal fed to the primary coils in the output trannies clips, what type of output is induced into the secondaries?
Let me elaborate. Al explained that "[c]lipping means that the positive and negative peaks of what would normally be a smooth sinusoidal waveform will abruptly transition to a flat, essentially constant output level corresponding to the maximum positive and negative voltages that the amp is capable of delivering."
So, if the input to the primary coils transitions to a flat non-alternating voltage, is it possible to induce a voltage in the secondaries?? If the answer is no, I would think that the clipping would be expressed as a distorted output wave form, but not necessarily of a type that would damage speakers. I imagine the distortion would sound terrible though.
Alternatively, if the signal fed into the primary coils wildly oscillates as bursts of positive and negative voltage, wouldn't the output voltage still be limited to some extent by the output trannies? I suppose in this case, while the output trannies wouldn't be passing pure DC to the speakers, the widely oscillating signal fed into the primaries could induce bursts of oscillating DC voltage which perhaps in extreme cases might damage speakers.
I ask because I own a 130 wpc tube amp that drives speakers having a sensitivity 89 db and a nominal impedance of 8 ohms. As you might imagine, my rig can get quite loud without having to push the amp. Hence I am somewhat dubious that I clip the amp because my wife would start screaming bloody murder to turn the da** stereo down way before a clip. She's better than any speaker fuse on the market today. I would say she a hyper fast fuse -- a real live wire.
Thanks for the clarification.
Let me elaborate. Al explained that "[c]lipping means that the positive and negative peaks of what would normally be a smooth sinusoidal waveform will abruptly transition to a flat, essentially constant output level corresponding to the maximum positive and negative voltages that the amp is capable of delivering."
So, if the input to the primary coils transitions to a flat non-alternating voltage, is it possible to induce a voltage in the secondaries?? If the answer is no, I would think that the clipping would be expressed as a distorted output wave form, but not necessarily of a type that would damage speakers. I imagine the distortion would sound terrible though.
Alternatively, if the signal fed into the primary coils wildly oscillates as bursts of positive and negative voltage, wouldn't the output voltage still be limited to some extent by the output trannies? I suppose in this case, while the output trannies wouldn't be passing pure DC to the speakers, the widely oscillating signal fed into the primaries could induce bursts of oscillating DC voltage which perhaps in extreme cases might damage speakers.
I ask because I own a 130 wpc tube amp that drives speakers having a sensitivity 89 db and a nominal impedance of 8 ohms. As you might imagine, my rig can get quite loud without having to push the amp. Hence I am somewhat dubious that I clip the amp because my wife would start screaming bloody murder to turn the da** stereo down way before a clip. She's better than any speaker fuse on the market today. I would say she a hyper fast fuse -- a real live wire.
Thanks for the clarification.