brickboy

Can anyone remind me the general rule of thumb about how far you should turn your volume ****, to avoid speaker-damaging distortion etc?

Is it not more than halfway, not more than 40%, etc?

Sony TA-F246 amp (40W RMS) and Kef Coda 8 speakers ...

Reality

When your ears start to bleed turn it down half a notch.


hth

SJ_Skyline

wez_sti

dont think there is a 'rule of thumb' really, depends on the make/model/price of the speakers/amp.

high end ones should be expected to run at max volume, low end will distort anyway.

not mcuh help in know! :P

GaryCat

Depends on your amp output and your speaker rating. Damage occurs when the amp starts to clip - where that happens depends on the quality and design of the amp.

ru'

No rule of thumb as stated previously. Problem is, each input source will have a slightly different output voltage, so the volume **** setting for the CD may be different to the tape etc.


There's two kinds of problems you're trying to avoid (and both of them are totally audible, as long as you're not really p*ssed up in a party situation etc.):

1) Amp is set too loud for the 'speakers and blows the woofer (usually) as it over powers it. In your case I'd guess the 'speakers can handle 40W rms fine, so this is probably not going to happen.

2) Amp is set too loud for itself, and it clips the output waveform which (as sharp waveform 'edges' contain lots of high frequencies) blows the tweeters. This could be a danger in your system.

If you want some advice, don't turn it up further when you can hear it distort (in fact, back it off a bit). This 'probably' means less than 70%-ish, but I don't know.

homerjay

as far as i know, 60% is usually optimum volume on most decent hifi's, before distortion kicks in...

TelBoy

Impossible to generalise - you'd have to know the spec of the amps and the speakers. Generally it's when the amps "clip", as Gary said, but by then things have already gone too far, and damage might be irreversible. So you're left with the distortion method - not ideal, but the best you can estimate really.


Unless you go out and buy decent equipment, of course...

Vegescoob

Yup, your ears.
Old Cerwin Vega ad slogan, "Loud is beautiful if it's clean".
Not sure they'd get away with that today.
Disclaimer, too loud, too long is bad for you.

Vegescoob

And there's me thinking you had to born with it.
One lives and learns.

brickboy

Thanks all -- '4' (out of 10) is ear-bleedingly loud and without distortion so I reckon I'm safe enough.

@TelBoy -- oh all right then, I'll go and buy some Bose kit

Graz

He said decent equipment not style over function

dba

There is no rule.When the speakers sound like ****,its too far.

fatscoobyfella

It all depends on room listening size as well..Actual volume in the room is determined by the sound pressure levels inside the listening room.
Basically you dont want any distortion of sound anywhere in the sound table.Also depends what your general music type you listen to.
Its a personal thing at the end of the day,sit down and have some good lengthy listening sessions,you will find what level suits you best..

Oh yea..BTW...Bose... GIVEOVER!!!!!

mart360

if you have a half decent amp, it will shut down when clipping occurs

I can get mine to about 50% power and then it shuts down, i have had the speakers on a dual monoblock amp and they sound very good, the bass was a bit to rich, but they were only 4 weeks old, they should be just about run in now!!


M

hades

Also a generalisation. To have something that detects clipping and does something about it generally involves putting something in the signal path, and many hi-fi purists will tell you that anything that doesn't need to be there is not a good thing for sound quality - therefore they don't have anything that controls clipping. Some amps do, some don't. Some like the old NADs even had a "soft clipping" switch, to enable you to either control the clipping or get a slightly "purer" sound.

ru'

Also this will only correct for item 2) in my post above, not item 1) (unless coupled with one or more microphones etc. which is an unllikely scenario).