What does clipping sound like?


I have been wondering if the break up distortion I hear with my 60 watt tube amps is because I have insufficient power for my 91db 6 ohm minimal speakers. I do question if that rating of my speakers is correct.
When the music swells, I get break up sound. It is not on low notes or high volume. I do wonder how my speakers would perform with a lot more power. I have always thought that any speaker likes more power.
mglik

Showing 3 responses by millercarbon

I think it is mistracking

No kidding. What I said. Ralph was also on the right track.

Question now is, Why? Are we certain we are tracking at the correct VTF?
Absolutely no idea what is going on here. Except for one thing: "when the music swells". When the music swells is called a crescendo.
Clipping happens only at max output. So if it is not high volume then it is not clipping. If it happens when the music swells, that is a high amplitude signal in the source regardless of the amount of amplification. So this could be as simple as a dirty stylus and mistracking. Or overloading an input somewhere. Could be a lot of things. Without knowing more, pure guesswork.