|   Is this clipping ?Any body else experienced this? | audiogeek
Aug 23, 2002 1:12 AM | | I was listening to one of my friend's wharfedale diamond 8.4 with his pioneer 60/watt per channel amp.The diamonds are 86 db with 150 watt power.The pioneer obviously goes into distress levels if pushed.He was playing "in the flesh" by pink floyd.The volume knob was at 12 o'clock.As the cresendo increased,there was a sudden rush of noise like like you hear in TV when there is no program available.This was in the background though but the speaker was clearly distorting.We quickly reduced the volume.We played some other cd and everything was alright.Was this clipping?Will this damage the speaker? |
| Yes that is clipping........not enough power to your speakers | ecm3
Aug 23, 2002 3:19 AM | | |
| Ok..so the amp needs replacing.Can you reccomend any from these? | audiogeek
Aug 23, 2002 4:05 AM | | We checked his speakers with my nad c 370 and everything was perfect.Good dynamism and head room.He can't afford a nad right now.Can anybody reccomend a good amplifier comparable to the nad inside 450 dollars?The makes available here are:
Marantz,Denon,yamaha,nakamichi. |
| Ok..so the amp needs replacing.Can you reccomend any from these? | robrodier
Aug 23, 2002 1:46 PM | | Were talking integrateds right?
Going used would really open some doors performance wise. The Acurus DIA-100 could be had for less than $400. Build quality is great and the sound is even better. It has a 100 watt amp and a passive input stage. A great deal if you can find one.
-rob |
| Onix integrated | Chuckd55
Aug 23, 2002 10:36 PM | | http://www.av123.com
read the reviews - do a search at:
http://www.ecoustics.com for "onix"
I would think better than any of your 4) choices. |
| re: Is this clipping ?Any body else experienced this? | RGA
Aug 23, 2002 10:12 AM | | General rule of thumb with the Japanese amp companies. Don't ush the knob past the 11 o'clock position - generally that is the usable maximum. many amps the max is 12 o'clock. The load plays a role so this is just general from mine and others experience.
Dump the Pioneer and get a real amp. |
| Volume control position | Kursun
Aug 23, 2002 2:33 PM | | I agree with your post, but I would like to point out one little detail:
Arranging volume controls so that maximum output being reached at half position, is an old tradition and doesn't necessarily indicate a bad design.
Back in the old days,
* turntable pick-up cartridges all had different output voltages (still the same, in fact)
* Analog tape/cassette decks generally had low line output. Recording-level preferences of the recordist varied the output too.
* In contrast, tuners had high line level outputs.
So, when switching inputs or to "magnify" a lowly recorded section, you had to touch up the volume control. The rest of the volume control scale, from 12 o'clock to max. was there for extra gain if needed.
Today line-level outputs of most source components are more or less the same and analog tape is not used much anymore. Some amplifier manufacturers (especially the home theater crowd) now design their volume controls so that max. output is reached at around the max. position. This also helps to lessen the risk of inexperienced users clipping the amp/receiver.
Just changing the resistance value of the volume control will convert the action of the volume control. So it's not an important design point, just preference... |
| Volume control position | skeptic
Aug 25, 2002 5:32 AM | | You can think of the volume control as the throttle on a car. You can arrange it so that the slightest touch of the gas pedal revs the engine to nearly max and sends the car lurching forward making it seem very powerful or you can arrange it so that you have to practically floor the gas pedal to get it to accelerate appreciably making it seem very underpowered and sluggish. Of course the car has the same amount of available power either way. Good design would suggest that it be somewhere in between. In the same way, the preamp sensitivity and the selection of a volume control doesn't change the amount of power that an audio amplifier can deliver. Hopefully the selection of components will allow you to drive the amplifier to very close to maximum output within the range of the volume control and available input signal level at the same time allowing you to carefully adjust the volume to the level you desire easily. |
| I agree | RGA
Aug 26, 2002 9:57 PM | | I was just noting a generality. My Arcam can go to 3 o'clock and be fine and deafening, where the higher wattage Pioneer Elite Receiver would get to 1 O'clock, not be as loud and start to distort ... by 2 o'clock it would clip. The receiver before the Pionner crapped out at 11'o'clock.
Turntables of course you could put much farther around the clock as you note. And some amp's volume knobs don't have points so you can turn them 20 rotations etc.
The best way is to find out by ear(carefully) how far you can push the amp. I don't have the guts to push my Arcam past 3 O'clock...just in case...it's loud at 10'oclock so why kill it. |
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