no difference in the meter only the printed scale
no difference in the meter only the printed scale
I know it's a Pandora's box, my Marantz 2215b (15w pr ch) will easily drive any of my 16 sets of speakers to 'normal' listening levels as the 80w pr ch Kenwood (and often sound better). However the Kenwood isn't working nearly as hard at the upper limits no matter what the efficiency of the speakers are.
Basically, any given set of speakers will play at the same level with 10w whether the amplifier is rated at 10w or 100w. Asking 10w from a 10w amp is more likely to damage a 15w speaker than pushing 15w into the same speaker with a 20w amp.
also should add not all 100watt amplifiers are created equal, see the example in my avatar
So then what I should look for is an output meter, not a VU meter, thank you. Is that something that is available in an external unit and how would it integrate with varying wattage amps?
There are a ton of VU meters and driver boards available on ebay . Most people who hook up external VU meters do it because it looks cool to watch the needles dance, not because they are using them as a precision instrument. To accurately calibrate them, you could use an oscilloscope. Also, bear in mind that the red area on meters was also likely more of an aesthetic flourish, rather than an absolute indicator of clipping. Fisher Studio Standard gear is getting pretty old and if yours is still all original it is likely not performing to its original specs anyway. Speakers often blow because of the ugly transients and oscillations an amp outputs when pushed to its limits. For example, supposing a 100 watt rated speaker, you could use a signal generator to create and feed an artificially clipped signal into a healthy 150 watt amp and turn up the volume to reach 100 watts output and the speaker would survive. On the other hand, take a poor condition 100 watt amp and feed it a normal sinewave signal, turn the volume all the way up to reach a 100 watts output, and the speakers could blow. In this scenario, the clipping itself would not be the cause.
same meter only the printed scale is different lol
Radio Shack used to sell an external unit, may be able to find one on eBay.
If none of your 16 pairs of speakers have blown yet then.......
Nope not yet! Thought I blew one if my Paradigm Titans a while back, the woofer just stopped making noise. I was playing them quite loudly during a particular passage of music on a video game intro, my roommate at the time walked in and asked "what speakers are those" because he was impressed by how they sounded. Of course I had to turn them up to show off.
After that, figuring I trashed them I put them on a shelf in the basement. After about 7 years I pulled them down and out of curiosity hooked them up, they both worked. I opened the back an saw that the surrounds were trashed, so I got them redone. Still using them today.
Best as I can figure, I must have overextended them. Perhaps the voice coil got caught up on the edge of the magnet? Then was later jarred loose moving them? Don't know, just happy they are fine
Can't make out what it is just looking at the avatar but yeah, certainly not all 100w amps are created equal
My 15w Marantz easily keeps up with the 35w Fisher
goodolpg
Just an old fart trying to help.
Has anyone mentioned that many meters are not all that accurate (there must be some that are) and may not be true representations of the actual power being put out at any given moment?
In many (most?) cases they are more eye candy than indicative of true output power.*
I think I read that somewhere years ago....
*possibly due to the difference between VU meters and power output meters?
Or maybe both types may have shortcomings due to design or price?
I'm trying to learn here myself.
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Perhaps I should say that any given speakers will play at the same volume with 10 watts whether the amp actually puts out 10w or 100w. Nevermind what they are 'rated' at, as those ratings are often quite arbitrary
I'm sure that is true, then they also get old and out of calibration and need to be adjusted. I believe most can be calibrated, the down side there is knowing when they need adjustment
So basically, the impression I am getting is that I should just keep doing what I have been doing for decades, relying on my ears. Still might get a meter just to watch the needles dance to the music, and hey, never know when I might want to make a mix tape on the cassette deck. Although there's that output meter thing...
Does that say "Peak and RMS Power Meter"? It's hard to make out, being a bit blurry.
Edit: nevermind, I found the exact web page the image is from. That would be nice as it tells the wattage actually going to the speakers in real time, I like that. So far I found one on eBay not working, for parts, have to keep looking.
Thanks
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Thanks
Would it be safe to say that monitoring amplifier output to the speakers is probably a good start in avoiding clipping? Knowing the power rating of a speaker and seeing the power actually going to the speakers seems like a reasonable place to start. Of course there are variables but knowing those two things it seems must cover the basics