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Should I have my speaker at max volume?

Vatablous
By Vatablous
in Audio
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Go to solution Solved by iMunch,

TL;DR If it is clipping, it is too loud

 

As long as the amplifier is not distorting, and is matched to the wattage of the speaker it should be fine. The two main things that kill speakers is heat, and over-extension of the diaphragm (bottoming out). If you turn it up high enough that you hear clipping or distorting, it means the the sound signal is more closely resembling a square wave rather than a sine wave, which damages the speaker in two ways: 1) the speaker voice coil needs to dissipate more heat, as the square wave typically carries about 1.4x the amount of power for the same amount of movement (sound output) in the speaker. This power is dissipated as heat in the coil, and 2) the voice coil does not cool down as effectively, since for the majority of the time for a square wave (especially in bass sounds) the diaphragm isn't moving which in turn limits the movement of the air behind the diaphragm to cool the coil. This melts the glue holding the coil together and "blows" your speaker.

 

 

Posted

Does anything bad come from having my speaker at max volume? Does it shorten its life or just break it?

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Posted

It could bottom out the speakers with a lot of bass but that's about it 

I spent $2500 on building my PC and all i do with it is play no games atm & watch anime at 1080p(finally) watch YT and write essays...  nothing, it just sits there collecting dust...

Builds:

The Toaster Project! Northern Bee!

 

The original LAN PC build log! (Old, dead and replaced by The Toaster Project & 5.0)

Spoiler

"Here is some advice that might have gotten lost somewhere along the way in your life. 

 

#1. Treat others as you would like to be treated.

#2. It's best to keep your mouth shut; and appear to be stupid, rather than open it and remove all doubt.

#3. There is nothing "wrong" with being wrong. Learning from a mistake can be more valuable than not making one in the first place.

 

Follow these simple rules in life, and I promise you, things magically get easier. " - MageTank 31-10-2016

 

 

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  • Author
Just now, Bananasplit_00 said:

It could bottom out the speakers with a lot of bass but that's about it 

So it can be pushed to the max but not be harmed? Speakers have built in limits, don't they?

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Just now, Vatablous said:

So it can be pushed to the max but not be harmed? Speakers have built in limits, don't they?

If that have integrated amplifiers they should but heavy bass can still bottom out speakers and harm them

I spent $2500 on building my PC and all i do with it is play no games atm & watch anime at 1080p(finally) watch YT and write essays...  nothing, it just sits there collecting dust...

Builds:

The Toaster Project! Northern Bee!

 

The original LAN PC build log! (Old, dead and replaced by The Toaster Project & 5.0)

Spoiler

"Here is some advice that might have gotten lost somewhere along the way in your life. 

 

#1. Treat others as you would like to be treated.

#2. It's best to keep your mouth shut; and appear to be stupid, rather than open it and remove all doubt.

#3. There is nothing "wrong" with being wrong. Learning from a mistake can be more valuable than not making one in the first place.

 

Follow these simple rules in life, and I promise you, things magically get easier. " - MageTank 31-10-2016

 

 

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Just now, Bananasplit_00 said:

If that have integrated amplifiers they should but heavy bass can still bottom out speakers and harm them

Oh ok. I'll try not to blow my speaker apart then.

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  • Solution

TL;DR If it is clipping, it is too loud

 

As long as the amplifier is not distorting, and is matched to the wattage of the speaker it should be fine. The two main things that kill speakers is heat, and over-extension of the diaphragm (bottoming out). If you turn it up high enough that you hear clipping or distorting, it means the the sound signal is more closely resembling a square wave rather than a sine wave, which damages the speaker in two ways: 1) the speaker voice coil needs to dissipate more heat, as the square wave typically carries about 1.4x the amount of power for the same amount of movement (sound output) in the speaker. This power is dissipated as heat in the coil, and 2) the voice coil does not cool down as effectively, since for the majority of the time for a square wave (especially in bass sounds) the diaphragm isn't moving which in turn limits the movement of the air behind the diaphragm to cool the coil. This melts the glue holding the coil together and "blows" your speaker.

 

 

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Posted
1 minute ago, Vatablous said:

So it can be pushed to the max but not be harmed? Speakers have built in limits, don't they?

Ultimately, at max volume, the stresses can simply be higher based on the sound. And as I was typing, iMunch replied with great detail.~

My Classifieds Thread

 

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