How can I tell if a Sierra is being driven too hard?

[Sivar]

Do Sierras, in my case 2's and towers, distort audibly before reaching the wattage danger zone? I don't listen to very loud music often, but I don't want to damage these beautiful speakers when I do. How can I tell?

[Mag_Neato]

Distortion is usually the result of overdriving the amplifier, causing the output waveform to "Clip", which sends a distorted signal to the speaker. The tweeter is typically the victim in these cases which can be damaged if not corrected in time. The telltale sign of clipping is a loss in dynamics and a shrill sound. I have the -2's as well, driven by a modest 100 watt per channel Marantz AVR. They will play louder than I need without ever sounding like they are being overdriven, or the amp itself.

If you are running them in a home theater setup crossed to a sub, powered by the Emotiva amp listed in your sig, I'd seriously doubt you will ever run into a problem.

[Sivar]

For stereo music, my amplifier is unlikely to clip before the speakers (500W RMS in stereo), and I am unsure if the Sierra will sound shrill as it reaches its limits. I want to "see what they can do" at least once, but don't want to risk damaging them.

[davef]

For stereo music, my amplifier is unlikely to clip before the speakers (500W RMS in stereo), and I am unsure if the Sierra will sound shrill as it reaches its limits. I want to "see what they can do" at least once, but don't want to risk damaging them.

Be careful with this... That much power into the Sierra-2's will certainly cause damage.

[Sivar]

One nice thing about paper cones (at least in my limited experience) is that they clearly distort before they are at their short-term limits.

I haven't driven the Sierra 2's to any point likely to cause damage, but I would like to know if I can turn them up until they begin to distort without causing damage. I don't want to assume they will behave like other speakers.

[curtis]

One nice thing about paper cones (at least in my limited experience) is that they clearly distort before they are at their short-term limits.

Some paper cones do quite well. The cone material is all about trade-offs....weight, stiffness, and damping properties.

One nice thing about paper cones (at least in my limited experience) is that they clearly distort before they are at their short-term limits.

I haven't driven the Sierra 2's to any point likely to cause damage, but I would like to know if I can turn them up until they begin to distort without causing damage. I don't want to assume they will behave like other speakers.

The Sierra-2 can get real loud without distorting. When I heard them at Ascend's offices, we threw some pretty difficult material at them at high levels, and they did fine. I have a post somewhere about decibel level we hit...I can't remember what it was...but it was high.

If you play them loud enough to distort, I will be suprised...just turn them down quickly, and you should be fine...but it is your risk.

[davef]

One nice thing about paper cones (at least in my limited experience) is that they clearly distort before they are at their short-term limits.

I haven't driven the Sierra 2's to any point likely to cause damage, but I would like to know if I can turn them up until they begin to distort without causing damage. I don't want to assume they will behave like other speakers.

Woofer cone material has nothing to do with power handling and the audibility of when a woofer will reach its mechanical and thermal limits. Mechanical and thermal limits are determined by the suspension system and motor system.

That said, with the RAAL ribbon tweeters, they function quite differently from typical dynamic drivers and as such, when they reach their mechanical limits, they will not produce that typical "driving them too hard" sound. At these extremely loud volume levels, you would likely damage the ribbon before you actually hear distortion. This is something to be careful of and I don't recommend pushing the speakers just to see what they can do.

As Curtis alluded to, they can play quite loud -- but understand with a 500 watt amplifier, the difference between throwing 200 watts into the speaker and 400 watts is only 3dB more output (which at very loud volume levels, can often be difficult to hear the difference), while 400 watts at a sustained period of time will damage the speakers - and ribbon tweeters are expensive to replace (as is the woofer).

That said, don't stress about them either - they will perform extremely well within their rated power handling.