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They plugged my center channel into a wall outlet!!! (1 Viewer)

Keith Hyde

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
Messages
106
This is crazy.. I had a dream last night, probably prompted by my recent inquiries of bi-wiring my beautiful new rosenut Studio 470 :emoji_thumbsup: and all the room reconfiguring I've been doing lately. Had a dream that my landlord? I think came over with a stranger to check out the place, caught me in the middle of a huge reconfigure, helped me move some stuff around and he hooked up my center while I was working on other parts of it. We decided to crank it up, then it started to smoke! Bad! So I check the connections on the back and its all charred and black and melted and I trace the wire and a banana plug is stuck into the ground hole of a power strip!? Oh man! What the?! The speaker was so destroyed the back even fell off it into my hands and I looked inside at all the smoldering stuffing. My heart sank and suddenly my guests found it appropriate to leave.

BUT as some sort of grace imparted to my speaker apparantly, after a brief analysis with trusted friend, the damage was determined only esthetic and all was determined to be fine sonically. I piled down on the couch and went back to jamming out to it with the feeling of "disaster averted".

Yup, beats me too. All I can say is that with the addition of a SVS and this center in the last week, I have found it almost impossible to leave the house after getting home from work - CD after record after CD after record... In the door - stereo on until bed.
 

Vince Maskeeper

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Jan 18, 1999
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6,500


You can actually do this, I have seen guys connect speaker terminal directly to AC power to pop them. The ac is a cyclical current at 60hz- so you get a 60hz tone. How much wattage to the drive would depend on the imp rating of the speaker... but it does work.

-Vince
 

Cees Alons

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Cees Alons
Power equals voltage squared, divided by impedance.

I will assume you have 110V, and a 4 Ohms speaker, so the power the speaker would try to produce will be 110 x 110 / 8 = 3025 W. Before you will even recognize the 60Hz tone, the speaker will be destroyed. Probably even before your power fuse melts.

Yes, like Vince, I have seen someone do it once (my younger sister, when I was 12). A very loud *BOOM*, like a gun shot, speaker gone. Actually I think the cone will make a movement in one direction only and not even remotely vibrate at 60Hz for a moment....

What you saw in your dream is not how it would go. :D


Cees
 

BrianW

Senior HTF Member
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Jan 30, 1999
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Brian
Sometimes a banana plug is just a banana plug.

But an SVS sub...
 

Vince Maskeeper

Senior HTF Member
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Jan 18, 1999
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Cees,

I've seen it done on 18 inch and 15 inch 16 and even 8 ohm drivers which survived. PA speakers rated for 2500 watts or more...

But, none the less, it's fun.

-Vince
 

Cees Alons

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 31, 1997
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Cees Alons
Vince,

I guess some 100V PA systems could do it, yes. :)



Brian,

True. Yet it was his tiny banana plug that was stuck into a powerful hole. With enormous, can I say overblown, results.
And why the 'smoldering center channel'?


Cees
 

Evelio Figueroa

Second Unit
Joined
Feb 11, 2000
Messages
482
Klipsch as added little caps to thier speaker terminals. I was wondering why and I found out its to prevent people from plugging the 220 volt adapter to it.

I can see why.









I had to remove those tiny caps in order to use banana plugs.
 

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