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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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In Reply to: I need a floorstanding speaker at least 250W RMS posted by MoesM2A on January 2, 2002 at 19:44:21:
If your midrange blew, it wasn't because your amp was clipping. A clipping amp fries tweeters.Rather, it was because your average power level was too high. Using rock music (which is highly compressed, with a 6 to 8 dB peak-to-average ratio), with a 200 watt amplfier you can generate average levels that will fry nearly any consumer speaker that uses a midrange. The only exception might be one of the "classic" acoustic suspension speakers from the late 1960s or early 1970s -- the KLH Model 6, the AR 2ax (not the AR 5), the AR 3 (not the 3a) and the Larger Advent speaker. These speakers all had large woofers (10 - 12") that reproduced everything up to 1 or 1.5 Khz and could therefore soak up a lot of power. The two ARs I mentioned were nominally 3-way, but, in reality consisted of a tweeter and a super tweeter. The woofer reproduced the midrange. A true 3-way speaker has a midrange that usually takes over from the woofer in the 300 to 400 Hz band, squarely in the midrange. (Middle C on the piano is 440 Hz.) The downside is that all these speakers are horribly inefficient; so you may be pumping in the watts, but you won't get the sound that you're apparently seeking.
If you want to generate (literally) ear-splitting SPL's, then you should be looking at more efficient speakers, not more amplifier power, Stephen B says. Why don't you look for an old pair of Klipsch horn speakers, either the K-Horns or the Cornwalls? They are rated to generate SPLs in excess of 110 dB -- and will do so with less power input than your amplifier produces. Also look for some of the big Altec Voice of Theater speakers, used. They are almost as efficient as the Klipsch horns and will play really LOUD. I don't know if they would fit your budget, however. They are also physically big.
At the risk of sounding churlish, you also might want to consider that exposure to sustained SPLs of 100 dB or more produces permanent hearing damage -- at the minimum tinnitus (ringing of the ears) and at the maximum deafness. As one who has occasional tinnitus in one ear, I can tell you it's no fun. It's also incurable.
So, enjoy the music, but think of your ears, too.
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Follow Ups
- Re: I need a floorstanding speaker at least 250W RMS - Bruce from DC 06:33:05 01/03/02 (0)
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