Protecting speakers in home theatre application?


I have an Adcom preamp and amp (GFP-565, GFA-535 II) driving a set of B&W Nautilus 804s. I am considering using this with a new TV via a (yet to be purchased) DAC, but I am wondering whether driving the speakers with TV / movie audio with non-music, non-voice special effects audio audio risks damage to the speakers. This includes signal drop-outs / and static-bursts since the HDTV tuner will be over the air broadcast rather than cable.

I looked for prior discussions but did not find them. Any thoughts or pointers to other discussions?

One final comment- I care most about music, not TV and movies, which I just need to hear. I’m not trying to build a theatre. So, I’m hoping to get a rather cheap DAC and maybe a cheap line-level pre-amp with a remote volume control. These components could also be a worry. To be clear, the setup would be to take the digital TV signal via toslink to a DAC; take the line level from the DAC by RCA to the in-line volume control and from there to an AUX in of the Adcom preamp. For music, my CD player goes into another input of the Adcom pre-amp and is free of all this new nonsense...just CD, Adcom pre-amp, amp, and speakers.
efrank

Showing 3 responses by wolf_garcia

My hi-fi is also in a different room in "the mansion" than my TV…I've issued hover boards to all the servants by the way, so as to lesson all the pesky foot noise (highly recommended). I use an old receiver for the TV, and run a signal from the "big screen Sony" (a line from "Pretty Girls Rule the World" recorded  by David Lindley) to the receiver which is used in stereo mode (not surround as I don't care) powering my very old Boston Acoustics A60IIs (which sound great…replaced the woofers at some point)…and it does the job. A line from the DVR provides signal to my Sony wireless headphones so I can silently watch stuff after the servants and my wife go to bed (not with each other hopefully as I'd hate for the servants to not get enough sleep).
Contracts? Risk of deportation obviates contracts. My servants all carry small fire extinguishers and wear helmets…because I care. Note that the primary risk to speakers is extreme distortion from a SS amp played too loud, direct current from a failing amp of any kind, and curios probing fingers squishing a tweeter.
My Silverline Prelude tweeters have little screens on them to supposedly help acoustically with treble dispersion or something, and are thusly protected. I was talking about this with a sales dude at Goodwin's once…the groovy  Magicos have a beryllium or non-obtainium or mondo expensivium tweeter sitting there just daring people to touch them, and he said, "uh" or "murmph" or something…amazingly, many other extreme high end speakers have exposed tweeters which is fine I suppose if you never let other humans near them.