The Glade 4.0

So there must be some AV nerds here. Noobie question time!

My speakers always sound better, louder. I mean, not just the emotional response of a bass beat in your gut, but more fluid, more detailed. They're good quiet, but better loud. So. How does one know how loud one can take them before the amp blows them out? Is there any way to know other than 'nope, not yet, turn it up another notch and see if that kills them'?

1. locate Max output (Amps/Watts/DB) on your amp. (perhaps in your manual or written somewhere on the unit.)

2. locate the maxium rating (Amps/WattsDBS)on your speakers (likely written on the speaker)

If the numbers on the speakers exceed numbers on the Amp you should be able to "turn it to 11" as the saying goes (or so I think.)

If the numbers on the amp are bigger than you can approximate how much your maxium gain. However this is playing with fire and you might misguess how much electricity the speakers are getting and fry them.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

What type of speakers are they? High powered cone-paper type drivers and molded horn drivers tend to be more precise at higher outputs because the mass of the driver become negligible compared to driving force of the coil.

Subwoofers actually tend to be opposite, for reasons I'm unsure of. This phenomonom seems to plague any driver that operates in the 90hz or below range, wether it is installed on a dedicated subwoofer enclosure or a main speaker.

Anyway, look at the both the peak and continuous power for the speaker; it should be on the nameplate data or you can google it. Compare it to the output of the your amplifier. If the amp can push more power than the driver is rated for, you'll want to either be conservative or install a limiter/compressor type processor so that way if the knob is cranked, it cuts the power at a threshold you set. Setting the threshold is a practice in listening for distortion in the driver, one that took me a while (and sacrificed a lot of hearing) to get right. dbx and Behringer make good products with multiple types of interfaces (1/4" line or signal or XLR). I'm partial to dbx, but they are pricey.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Testing to destruction is the only way to be sure. Go for it Suineko!

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Whoa, whoa, let's not be hasty. What's the warranty?

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I'm not a stereo buff by any means, but...

Listed on somewhere on every electronic device is it's Thevenin-Norton resistance, current, and voltage, along with the maximum power it's rated for. (What that means is someone simplified whatever circuitry is inside the unit down to the voltage at the terminals, a single resistor, and the current that would flow through that resistor at the aforementioned voltage.) You can find these on the underside of your laptop, on a sticker on the power supply in your computer, inside the door of your microwave, stamped on the top of your car battery, etc. It's usually someplace fairly easy to find, but also out of view for common usage (i.e. not smack on the front of your monitor). On speakers and amplifiers, they're on the back near all the jacks. So long as your speakers are rated for a greater power than what your amp is putting out, you're fine. If your speakers are rated lower, then you need some intermediary device to control the amount of power being delivered to the speakers. Alternatively, you could use the information on the stickers to draw up a circuit diagram for your stereo system and figure out what the power draw is going to be.

Some (I would think most) amplifiers have different jacks on them that are rated for various different speaker sizes. If your amp is rated higher than your speakers, you may be able to circumvent that by locating the appropriate jacks on the back of your amp.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

Tannoy Arena Highline 500's
Onkyo TX-SR875 (UK version)

Hey, I have that amp (the US Version!)

Nice choice! =)

I've got its little brother- the TX-SR805. And wow does that thing rock!

JBL Northridge II speakers & center, 12" 250W down-firing sub.

I love the Palladia HD channel on comcrap!