Quicksilver Monoblock, B&W Diamond speaker, Tube Blow

[briguy986]

I have a set of monoblocks (takes EL34, 8417, or 6550 tubes) which I want to hook up to the Bowers & Wilkins 805D speakers. When my output tube failed in the past, my L100 speakers produced a very loud pop sound that I fear might damage the $1k diamond tweeters aboard the B&W speakers. Of course, I had to replace the tube and amp fuse, and the JBL L100 survived the pop sound.

FYI, the monoblocks are 60 WPC, and the 805D speakers have a 120W max rating. Does this mean the brief and loud pop could be no more than 60 watts?

Will a loud pop resulting from a shorting power tube damage diamond tweeters? How do people damage diamond tweeters, and when do you change your power tubes?

 

[gadget73]

Maybe. Really depends how loud and what the frequency spectrum is. It could be loud but relatively low freq, and that will put very little energy into the tweeter. At that point the crossover should be all the protection you need.

 

[century tek]

I was gonna say that a thousand dollar tweeter had better have some sort of protection.

 

[briguy986]

Diamond tweeters are very fragile, but stiff. A shock, like a pop, can crack them depending on how loud it is. I would prefer a more powerful amp for these speakers.

Thank you. I also use a solid state amp for the diamond speakers, as they are dynamically very capable. But say I were to use a higher powered tube amp like the ARC D125, the failure mode remains--tube blow = loud pop.

The crossover bit makes sense, as the component will prevent lower freqs going to the tweeter.

Still open to opinions. Thank you.

 

[briguy986]

When an output tube of a tube amp fails, and you hear a pop, what are you hearing? The tube, or the fuse?

 

[gadget73]

both. Usually the initial arc as it shorts, but you'll probably also hear the circuit go open again when the fuse lets go.