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Glasswolf,

Thanks for the explanation. Makes much more sense!

[quote="zt33l"]Thanks for the explanation. Just for reference, when it does heat up and starts to melt down, is that when clipping starts to occur? What type of symptoms can I expect from the speaker? It's still optimal to overpower a speaker then underpower, correct?[/quote]

The idea of "overpowering" is for the headroom, not actually the extra power, as said earlier in the thread.

Edit: Oh, and I forgot transients. Transients require 10x (I think?) more power.

[quote="zt33l"]Thanks for the explanation. Just for reference, when it does heat up and starts to melt down, is that when clipping starts to occur? What type of symptoms can I expect from the speaker? It's still optimal to overpower a speaker then underpower, correct?[/quote]

A lot of this is covered in the FAQ section for reference.

Clipping is when the sine wave signal of the amplifier is "clipped" off at the peak and trough of the wave, making the waveform appear more like a square wave. The problem with this is that speakers move in a manner parallel to the waveform, so when the wave is cut off, the speaker doesn't move smoothly. When a speaker cone is held in place receiving DC voltage, instead of a steady AC voltage, the voice coils build up more heat than normal and you can toast your voice coils. Also, the driver can lose linearity and stop moving in a "straight line", causing the cone to cant or tilt, and this will also damage the coils, shredding them against the motor structure.
In short, clipping is caused by a lack of sufficient current to the amplifier, or by overdriving the input stage of the amplifier. Both are bad situations.

There is nothing wrong with underpowering a speaker. power ratings are peak continuous thermal ratings designed to tell you how much power a voice coil can take, by telling you how much heat it can dissipate as measured in watts. Overpower a speaker, and you coils can't slough off the heat fast enough and you get a melted coil.
Keep in mind however, damage is a result of both power, and time. The shorter the duration of exposure, the less liekly damage will occur, and you don't typically send a constant amount of power to a speaker, so RMS power ratings on amplifiers are rarely if ever reached, due to a number of factors.

Symptoms of clipping are usually audible distortion in severe cases. Most amplifiers have a clipping indicator LED to tell you when the amp is beginning to play beyond the limits of it's power source or input stage is being overdriven.

did I pretty much cover your questions?

I can't help it....Have you not considered Genesis?

Thanks for the explanation. Just for reference, when it does heat up and starts to melt down, is that when clipping starts to occur? What type of symptoms can I expect from the speaker? It's still optimal to overpower a speaker then underpower, correct?

[quote="solacedagony"]3db requires a doubling of power, but doesn't double the volume. An extra 3db is audibly noticeable, but I think doubling the volume to your ear requires something like 10db. More than 8x the power.
The speaker's power handling, or RMS, is important for knowing how much heat (Wattage is a measure of heat) the voice coil can dissipate before melting down.[/quote]

We have a winner... Couldn't have explained it better myself.

I prefer to dip mine in liquid nitrogen :)

thats why you put dry ice in your box and give it 8x the power! hahahhaaa

3db requires a doubling of power, but doesn't double the volume. An extra 3db is audibly noticeable, but I think doubling the volume to your ear requires something like 10db. More than 8x the power.
The speaker's power handling, or RMS, is important for knowing how much heat (Wattage is a measure of heat) the voice coil can dissipate before melting down.

Thanks for clarifying it up--I didn't know that it took twice as much power to get a 3db increase. If that is true though, that really makes the speaker RMS wattage very unimportant doesn't it, since in that theory, they'll all be similar in loudness, but different in how they sound (based on what they're made out of). Does that mean really, going from a 50watt amplifier, in the case of the Zapco, isn't really that much of a increase then using the McIntosh, which is 100watt? I was always under the impression that if you double the wattage, you'll "nearly" double the volume with diminishing returns, all things being equal. Am I in the right ballpark?

That being said, if I decide to sell the Zapco or McIntosh amplifier, I'll give everyone on this forum first dibs, since everyone here has been quite helpful. Your advise is really appreciated, hopefully this system will make me smile. :happy055: