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What causes clipping?

I am trying to understand why my Kinergetics SW-200 subs are clipping so easily. I had a thread in "speakers", but realized this "tech talk" forum might be a more appropriate forum to help me understand what actually causes clipping.

I am mostly using my system for home theatre with a HK AVR300 receiver and pairing the subs with Spica TC-50's. The Kinergetics seem to be easily overwhelmed when "bassy" scenes come up in movies. But, other than when aliens are landing, they don't seem very loud.

The Kinergetics have their own 150W x 2 amp which is fed from the pre-amp out on my HK receiver. The receiver only has a mono pre-amp out, so I am splitting that to the L/R Kinergetic amp inputs.

What I am calling "clipping" is when the subs make a fast, loud, popping noise. A fuse in the Kinergetics sub may also burn out if this goes on for a long time.

1. What causes the clipping? Is it the sub amp being overloaded or is the speaker itself in the sub being overloaded?

2. Would a bigger sub amp solve the problem? If so, any recommendations?

3. Can clipping be caused when the amp can't get enough current to power the speakers? For example, I have the Kinergetics amp plugged into the switched AC outlet on my HK receiver. Can the amp be overloaded as it tries to suck the power it needs through the AC cable maybe causing a dip / spike pulse to the speakers?

4. Does room size or speaker placement have any affect on clipping?

Thanks for the help.
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robotman
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
My guess is the speakers have been fried.It doesn't take much 'crackling' to fry a driver,now the original reason as to why can sometimes be from a momentary short. (In addition to what others have posted)
robotman OP
35 posts
 
I don't think the driver is blown. It still seems to work fine at moderate volume levels. Just at loud, bassy times (i.e. organ in phantom of the opera or a big movie scene), they start having problems.

The fuses that sometimes blow are the ones inline to the speakers. Therefore, it seems like the amp itself is sending too much power to the speakers (causing them to exceed their excursion limit).

I was just wondering if there is some "power surge" effect caused when the amp can't get enough power and then tries to compensate but ends up overcompensating and thus overloading the speakers. Just a theory, but wasn't sure if it made any sense.
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nilemi
1 posts
 
Robotman: i have owned the SW200 in the past and had a similar if not identical problem. At low volumes, just fine, but turm it up and the broke up badly. Mine went back to Kinergetics, they were still in business then, and they replaced the power supply filters. It was running the power supply out when wanting higher currents. nilemi
robotman OP
35 posts
 
Thanks for the info! This sounds exactly like what's happening to mine.

Do you think my power supply is damaged by now or do I just have faulty filters that fail at high loads?

For that matter, what are power supply filters and how easy can they be replaced? Sounds like a generic part that maybe someone can help me replace without being an audiophile.

Too bad Kinergetics still isn't in business. I feel stuck now.
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unsound
7,329 posts
 
While I suspect the Kinergetics needs to be seen by a tech. In your previous thread you indicated that your room is 15 x 15. I'm guessing that your ceiling is probably 8' high. Ouch, that the largest dimension is only 15' limits bass response. Those dimensions, which include exact duplicates and the third being roughly one half, compound the problem and is most likely going make bass response uneven. The point being that your room, no matter what the gear (with some unique and notable exceptions) is most challanging, and especially with regards to bass. Perhaps you might want to reconsider your expectations?
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