Limiter

Hi everyone,

Immense enjoyment happening here with Sierra 2s up front, lunas in the rear, and a pair of spouse friendly E15s, set to 14 hz low q. All driven by a marantz 7013.

I happen to collect recordings of the famed 1812 overture and my present favorite is a 5 channel sacd with canons firing in opposite corners of the room . Should I engage the limiter? Can someone tell me how this thing works? Is it a fancy agc? why would one not use it all the time? If its job is to limit excursion then it should not even kick in until the source material demands more than the sub can deliver, in which case all other source material wouldn't care . If sq is impacted for source material that wouldn't damage the sub then one has to question its design.

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Originally Posted by dlleno

Hi everyone,

Immense enjoyment happening here with Sierra 2s up front, lunas in the rear, and a pair of spouse friendly E15s, set to 14 hz low q. All driven by a marantz 7013.

I happen to collect recordings of the famed 1812 overture and my present favorite is a 5 channel sacd with canons firing in opposite corners of the room . Should I engage the limiter? Can someone tell me how this thing works? Is it a fancy agc? why would one not use it all the time? If its job is to limit excursion then it should not even kick in until the source material demands more than the sub can deliver, in which case all other source material wouldn't care . If sq is impacted for source material that wouldn't damage the sub then one has to question its design.

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I don't recommend using the limiter unless you are hearing the subwoofer amplifier "clip" -- which is a nasty type of distortion. The limiter doesn't directly limit the woofer excursion, it limits the output of the sub amp itself such that the amp will not attempt to produce more output than it is capable of (clipping). Engaging the limiter will also limit the sub's overall dynamics.