Why are my speakers distorting at higher volumes?

[ooheadsoo]

The problem is that 2ohm dip that you just posted. Not many amps can handle pushing power out with 2 ohms. I hope that speaker was listed as a 4 ohm speaker at best.

 

[Holden Fourth]

120W should be more than enough! Than again, with 120W you don't have to crank the volume to get a good loud sound. After a certain point, cranking the volume becomes a wate of time as

a) your ears adjust to the louder volume

b) the efficiency of your amplifier is compromised.

ciao

Holden

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphie When you say that wattage isnt what matters, what exactly do you mean? I just bought speakers and a power amp which I will receive soon, the speakers are Dynaudio Audience 62s 160w each and the power amp is a NAD C270 120w/2channels. Could it be that I picked the wrong amp to drive them?

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphie When you say that wattage isnt what matters, what exactly do you mean? I just bought speakers and a power amp which I will receive soon, the speakers are Dynaudio Audience 62s 160w each and the power amp is a NAD C270 120w/2channels. Could it be that I picked the wrong amp to drive them?

Look at the section that says: "A MATTER OF IMPEDANCE"

http://www.dynaudiousa.com/products/...2/aud62rev.htm

 

[Asterix]

I busted out my dB meter and found the peaks to reach 95dB. I just upgraded my speaker cables which helped tighten up the sound in general. Not having a problem with volume at the moment, but it will distort if I push it passed 3/4 ways or so on the knob (like my MG Head did with my Senns.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necros Use this a rough guide.. http://www.myhometheater.homestead.c...alculator.html I get 95.8dB in your system..which is very loud, but I guess not much reserve (91dB is very loud during peaks, but usual level would be a few dB below that) With my system I get a possible theorical 117.2dB, that's with the 7 speakers (not excluding sub) Lots of reserve (my average listening level is 88dB) or -20dB after calibration @ 75dB. In 2 channel system I get a maximum of 106.3dB. In use peaks are 90dB, so again lots in reserve..

 

[Asterix]

After upgrading tubes, cables, and trying out different speakers, amps, and sources... I've come to the conclusion my Luxman is just clipping so I have to keep the volume turned down. This is not good, but since the clipping sound is 'tube clipping' its not as bad as it could be. I can get decent volume before it distorts, just not quite as much as I would like ideally.

 

[sacd lover]

Tube amps are very different than solid state amps into low impedences. Tube amps are high voltage /low current devices while solid state has high current/ low voltage. A tube amp rated for 30 watts into 8 ohms will almost always output the same 30 watts into 4 ohms; sometimes less if the power supply is underspecified. Drop the impedence below 4 ohms and the tube amps output diminishes very rapidly. You might only be getting 10-15 watts into 2 ohms.

Solid state on the other hand, again depending on the beefiness of the power supply, will usually double its power output into 4 ohms and even come close to doubling the power again into 2 ohms(think Krell / Mark Levinson). This is why impedence is so important when using tube amps. In the old days speakers were higher impedence with even 16 ohm speakers being common place.

For a speaker to work its very best with a lower power tube amp, the speaker needs to have a benign impedence curve and higher sensitivity.

 

[Asterix]

I would be very interested to try some appropriate speakers with this amp. Unfortunately, the only other speakers I could try besides the Vandersteen 1C were a pair of Wharfedale Emerald 95's and a pair of cheap Sony bookshelf speakers. From the few listening tests I did, I found they all distorted at around 12:00 on the volume knob of the amp, and that I wasn't getting significantly more or less volume from any of them (maybe a little more volume from the small Sony's but they sounded like crap, so...) So I'm still wondering if the amp is actually functioning properly. Again, with headphones everything is pretty much right on the money, so something is working right. I've gotten some recommendations to try the Omega line of speakers and that may be something to consider as a future upgrade.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sacd lover Tube amps are very different than solid state amps into low impedences. Tube amps are high voltage /low current devices while solid state has high current/ low voltage. A tube amp rated for 30 watts into 8 ohms will almost always output the same 30 watts into 4 ohms; sometimes less if the power supply is underspecified. Drop the impedence below 4 ohms and the tube amps output diminishes very rapidly. You might only be getting 10-15 watts into 2 ohms. Solid state on the other hand, again depending on the beefiness of the power supply, will usually double its power output into 4 ohms and even come close to doubling the power again into 2 ohms(think Krell / Mark Levinson). This is why impedence is so important when using tube amps. In the old days speakers were higher impedence with even 16 ohm speakers being common place. For a speaker to work its very best with a lower power tube amp, the speaker needs to have a benign impedence curve and higher sensitivity.

 

[Asterix]

turns out the amp is messed up. I discovered the distortion was only coming from one channel... I took it back to the tech today and hopefully he can fix it.