Did I fry the midrange? (1 Viewer)

[Robert Hoffman]

I've got a pair of Venturi (BIC America) V62's that were purchased about 10 years ago. I don't normally use these speakers, but my roomates blew my nice ones and I had to pull these out of the closet for a party. Long story short, I have them hooked up to my Rotel 1095 (200 watts by 5 channels) and was running my HK 235 around -6 on the dial (and it's been calibrated to reference at 0). I did not notice any audible distortion to indicate that the speakers were being driven too hard, but at some point towards the end of the night, after 3-4 hours of use on varying rock & hip hop the midranges totally crapped out and stopped working. I took out the driver yesterday but couldn't see any visible damage, but my guess is that the mids just got fried.

The speakers are rated up to 150 watts, but it was my rough understanding that as long as I wasn't hearing audible distortion, they should've been ok.

I'd appreciate any suggestions to make sure this doesn't happen again (and hopefully I get my Joseph Audios back soon). Thanks.

 

[John Garcia]

Just because you can't hear it doesn't mean it is happening. Damage can occur in a fraction of a second of being clipped, and that may be what happened. If you have something on random play, you can't really tell what is going to come out next, so if you get one song that is suddenly louder or has a huge dynamic peak, that could cause it. It could also be that the drivers were just old and failed (especially after a few hours of being pushed).

 

[Robert Hoffman]

Thanks John, you always seem to come thru in the clutch

I guess I may just go out this weekend and buy a cheap pair of Paradigm bookshelves. It's tough not having any speakers at all.

Actually, anyone have any experience with the Klipsch RB-15's or 25's? We get a corporate discount at J&R and I could probably pick those up at a decent price. Looks like they also carry JBL & Polk. I know Klipsch will have that distinctive sound, but the high sensitivity might be good for my roomates.

 

[Chris Quinn]

Did you re-calibrate for the different speakers?

 

[John Garcia]

That's a heavy duty amp, I'm surprised that it was a problem. I'd lean more towards the fact that the speakers were just old (and possibly couldn't handle that much power?). Chris makes a good point too, if the speakers levels weren't adjusted, they may have been operating quite hot.

 

[Robert Hoffman]

I didn't recalibrate, but I'm only using front L&R in stereo (in addition to a SVS sub). While I guess 0 on the dial may not have been reference, I figured I could audibly tell if they were being driven too hard. That being said, I was having a hard time standing by the end of the night, so maybe my hearing wasn't too good either

 

[Legairre]

I'd have to agree with John. I've had my the Rotel 1095 for about 3 yrs and it's a beast. For 2 channel listening it drives a pair of Monitor Audio silver s10 that are 6 ohm speakers and it powers them with ease at reference level. Chances are it's like John said the drivers were just old and it was their time.

 

[Chris Quinn]

You need to recalibrate after any component change especially speakers. For example if the previous speakers were 85dB in sensitiveity and the new ones are 91dB the new one will reach the same volume at 1/4 the power. It takes doubling the watts for every 3dB volume increase if everything else is the same.