My point is that clipping greatly increases the high-frequency content of the signal, which can damage cheap tweeters. Not the whole speaker.
But none of this matters to the OP. They can find plenty of speakers that will be a ‘drop in’ fit to their car, with greatly improved sound, at Crutchfield. No worries needed about amplifier power, they can handle it.
No, it can damage the whole speaker as the total power being delivered is also higher-
That’s possible, but the large drivers can usually handle quite a bit more power than the tweeters. Clipping shifts a good amount of the power load over to the tweeters, that’s where the distortion harmonics often get sent by the crossover.
Reality check - I have seen MANY blown speakers. ZERO have been from amps with a power rating higher than the speakers. They have ALL been blown tweeters caused by clipping of under-powered amps being overdriven into speakers with ratings far higher than the amp. I have watched while a 60 watt Technics receiver blew a set of foil tweeters into confetti on speakers rated up to 200 watts during the 1812 Overture. You have to work real hard to blow a woofer. Most of the time you will hear the clatter of the woofer bottoming out well before you could overheat it enough to destroy it.
Thanks, @bloody_knuckles , for injecting some actual facts based on observations into this discussion!
thank all of you for your input. I was already looking on www.amazon.com and on www.crutchfield.com. I see some that are 5x7 and some that are 6x8. I asked my mechanic and he said probably both will fit. I am not sure which size is in the car now or which size would be better. also how do I know what is the best watts to get for my radio that I have?
Well @bloody_knuckles, I have seen many blown speakers too. Most were simply due to aging, the cones dried out or were exposed to sunlight. But I have blown out two set of speakers and both were OEM car speakers blown out with a modestly powered (22 watts) after market head unit.
It just so happens that I have a 60 watt Technics receiver and a pair of Kenwood 777a speakers rated at 110 peak watts. I also have a couple of recordings of the 1812 Overture, one on vinyl is Zubin Mehta conducting the LA Philharmonic. I have yet to damage the speakers. I used to drive those speakers with a Kenwood receiver with only 10 watts per channel and I didn’t damage them at that time either, and I did crank that one. Really cranked it when I played Also Sprach Zarathrustra. Loved to feel that 32 Hz Organ tone that plays through the piece. Can’t hear that on modern amps because they all have a 40Hz cutoff that you can’t take out like on the old amps.
Anyway, the point is that an amp that is rated below the speakers capacity is not going to damage it, even if driven to clipping, period. If you have seen blown speakers from an underpowered amp, it wasn’t the amp, it was something else.
One other thing, once the amp reaches clipping, it isn’t going any louder than that. It has reached B+ voltage and that is all there is, end of story.
The place I buy car stereo equipment has a display rack of 20 different stereos and next to that 20 different speakers. You push a button to match the stereo you’re interested in with the speaker you’re interested in so you hear what the combo sounds like. A customer can go through a dozen combos or so in 5 or 10 minutes. It’s a pretty efficient way to compare them. There’s quite a bit of sound quality difference in the different combos. Likewise, there’s a significant difference in loudness.
I can speak a bit to the issue of clipping and speaker damage. I was involved in a project where something close to that problem came up, the clipping was causing the speaker to overheat and damage it. It turned out the high frequency harmonics from the clipping effect was the biggest contributor to the over-heating. That was my theory anyway, not everyone agreed.
Loved to feel that 32 Hz Organ tone that plays through the piece
That frequency doesn’t correspond with any note on the scale unless the orchestra tuned to a 430 Hz middle A, then it would be a low C.
Most modern orchestras tune to a 440 Hz middle A.
My point is that clipping greatly increases the high-frequency content of the signal, which can damage cheap tweeters.
It can damage very well built high-end professional high-frequency speakers. I’ve seen the aftermath of the diaphragm in a compression driver after it was driven by a clipping amp.
" It turned out the high frequency harmonics from the clipping effect was the biggest contributor to the over-heating. That was my theory anyway, not everyone agreed. "
That’s exactly what happens, George. Clipping creates distortions in the form of harmonics (higher frequencies). In the limit, it starts looking like a square wave, which is reproduced by the speaker as the base frequency plus a huge amount of high frequency harmonics. If you’re REALLY curious, you can read up on ‘Fourier series’.
George, was the clipping caused by overdriving the amp or overdriving the speakers. If it was overdriving the speakers, then I can agree with you. If it is from overdriving the amp, then I can only agree with you IF the power supplied by the amp was greater than the power handling capacity of the speakers.
As to the 32 Hz tone. It is from a pipe organ and I was told it was 32 Hz. I am not a musician. It is very low and you need a very good woofer or sub to hear it. Most 2 channel amps today filter it out. In theory, you could hear it on the sub woofer channel, but records and CDs don’t have a sub woofer channel, even if the amp does.
George, was the clipping caused by overdriving the amp or overdriving the speakers.
Clipping by definition is Over driving the AMP. It’s the amp that’s clipping…NOT the speakers.
Speakers can clip the output of an amplifier, and when they do, you are very likely to let the smoke out of them. Without their smoke, they stop working.
Back to the OP, there are lots of high-quality 5"x7" speakers that should fit both the doors and rear seat side panels. Any where from $40/pair on up. I’d be partial to the Polks for $80 a pair.
We agree on something, I use Polks myself, both in the car and for the surround system at home.
Speakers can clip the output of an amplifier, and when they do
Yes speakers can cause the amp to clip…but again…it’s the amp that’s clipping…NOT the speakers.
"Yes speakers can cause the amp to clip…but again…it’s the amp that’s clipping…NOT the speakers. "
Agree, but that is not what you said. When the speakers are clipping the amp, the amp is not being over driven. It is overdriving the speakers.
Having grown up with AM radio with a single in dash speaker I’m not picky. Modern OEM systems sound wonderful to me. My current OEM stereo with USB (mp3) input and 6 speakers is amazing.
Agree, but that is not what you said. When the speakers are clipping the amp, the amp is not being over driven. It is overdriving the speakers.
Never said that…Show me where I did.
I didn’t see anyone who did.