What is clipping?

Hi Rajmago,

Your speakers have a “recommended” power rating as stated in their literature. These figures are only guidelines for matching to your amplifier or receiver. The speakers can actually accept much more peak power than the specification indicates as long as the power (wattage) is undistorted or “unclipped”. IT IS EASIER TO DAMAGE THE SPEAKER WITH TOO LITTLE POWER RATHER THAN TOO MUCH!

The music that your system plays normally requires very little power to provide a reasonable volume level. The rest of the amplifier power waits in reserve to allow for dynamic peaks in the music – the crescendo of an orchestra or the impact of a drum or bass guitar. These types of passages cause the amplifier to put out many times the amount of power it does during the softer sections.

If the amplifier does not have sufficient “dynamic power reserves” or “current capability” (the muscle behind the amp’s power rating) the amplifier can go into a condition called “clipping” where the power becomes distorted. This clipping distortion is seen by the speaker as heat and can damage the fragile wires in the voice coil sections of the speaker elements. With severe clipping these wires can separate from each other or literally burn and char. If this occurs, the sound will become distorted or you will hear a scraping noise. In some cases a damaged driver will not make any sound at all. If you are concerned about your amplifier’s current capability you should contact your dealer for advice.

Best Regards,

Barry Kohan

Disclaimer: I am a speaker manufacturer.

Clipping occurs when a circuit runs out of power. That is, the signal requires more output than the power supply can deliver to the output stage OR when the output stage itself is saturated. The end result is an increase in multiple types of distortion and the resultant decrease in sonic quality. You can avoid this by buying the biggest, most robustly built "gonzo" amplifier that you can find and / or by running highly efficient speakers that are easy to drive and / or keeping your volume down to something below a roar. The level of "acceptable roaring" will be dictated by the individual power capacity of the amp, the sensitivity and reactance of the speakers and the size of the room that you're trying to pressurize. Sean
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thanks guys. much clearer now.

Clipping happens when an amp receives an INPUT signal beyond its capability.

There are two theories why a clipping amp overheats tweeters: excess harmonics & compression.

The older theory, excess harmonics, suggests that the clipped low frequency signals create higher frequency harmonic multiples of themselves which overload the tweeters.

The compression theory suggests that, although the low frequencies have become limited due to a shortage of power, the unclipped high frequencies overload the tweeters.

Odds are both theories are right. Both rest on the tweeter's greater efficiency relative to the low frequency drivers.

So what's to blame for the tweeter damage? The wacky sounding distortion? The amp's evil heat ray? Neither! The overdriven speaker coil spending too much time outside the gap with its magnet structure loses the heat transfer game and so overheats and burns.