Do AUDs kill speakers?

[jedifunk]

SSIA

Given that i listen to at least 85% live music from AUD sources i'm curious.  over the years i always seem to have speakers blow out in my cars.  every car i've had since i started collecting/listening to live music has had at least one speaker blow on me.

i'm curious since many (perhaps most) sources don't stack up to studio recordings or livephish, if perhaps the levels or amount of ambient white noise/static/frequencies produce added stress on the speakers.

is it the speakers, or do AUD sources have something to do with it? thoughts?

[G. Augusto]

You're just crankin' the J4Mz!

[Hicks]

AUDs don't kill speakers, you do.

[rowjimmy]

AUDs don't kill speakers, you do.

And probably your ears, too.

[jedifunk]

i guess thats part of my point.  the levels never seem to be high enough with AUDs so i have to turn the volume up most of the time...

any suggestions to minimize that?

[antelope19]

This might be a good place to ask.....isn't there a way to turn up the volume on certain tunes in itunes?  Basically, you would be able to turn up the volume on your AUDs without having to turn up the volume on your ipod.  The songs would just play louder already.   

[McGrupp]

Yup - pretty sure you can increase the volume on individual tracks in itunes. Will probably make the tracks clip out though, if you raise the volume too much.

[Hicks]

i guess thats part of my point.  the levels never seem to be high enough with AUDs so i have to turn the volume up most of the time...

any suggestions to minimize that?

You could pop them into a wave editor and raise the levels.  That way you could also look at the waveform to keep them from clipping.

[antelope19]

Yup - pretty sure you can increase the volume on individual tracks in itunes. Will probably make the tracks clip out though, if you raise the volume too much.

Thanks, I've always wondered if that would work.  It probably won't help Jedi's problem though.   :roll:

[nab]

Yup - pretty sure you can increase the volume on individual tracks in itunes. Will probably make the tracks clip out though, if you raise the volume too much.

Left Click on Track(s)>Get Info>Options>Volume Adjustment


This is probably the better, though more time consuming option:

i guess thats part of my point.  the levels never seem to be high enough with AUDs so i have to turn the volume up most of the time...

any suggestions to minimize that?

You could pop them into a wave editor and raise the levels.  That way you could also look at the waveform to keep them from clipping.

[sls.stormyrider]

if you crank it up for the auds, make sure you turn the volume down when you're done. better yet, turn the volume down after you're done with whatever you listen to. That way, if you put in a commercial disc or put on the radio, you won't be feeding your speakers (and your ears) a huge surge of energy.

[twatts]

Buy a head unit, an amp and some real speakers.  Stock car speakers are made from paper and tend to die within a year.  Stock car head units use crappy amps that do a poor job of adding volume while adding lots of noise.

I've had the same JBLs in my car for 10years now running off an Alpine and they still sound ear destroying fantastic...

Go to Crutchfield and do some shopping around.

Terry

[jedifunk]

well, i've had "real speakers" with a good deck before... still craps out after a while...

at least i've been able to surmise from this that "its not the AUDs"... although i still beg to differ.

like i said, its just not studio (obviously) and most recordings require upping the volume

[Hicks]

slslbs has a good point, you may have blown them when you were switching to a much louder source, i.e. FM Radio.

[twatts]

well, i've had "real speakers" with a good deck before... still craps out after a while...

at least i've been able to surmise from this that "its not the AUDs"... although i still beg to differ.

like i said, its just not studio (obviously) and most recordings require upping the volume

Then I'm not sure.  If this happens to you often, and on various systems, I have to believe its your listening habits???  You may want to look into getting a deck with smart volume.  Something that always powers up at a certain low volume then requires you to turn up, rather than one that is as loud as you left it.  My Alpine has this feature, and its nice not blowing out my ears when I first get into my car.

Another thing, does your stereo "pop" whenever you turn your car on or off?  That is a ground issue and this will damage your speakers.

Thing is, most car speakers are designed for 20Hz-20kHz.  So low frequencies shouldn't blow a speaker.  Although you could possibly damage a tweeter running bass through it, more than likely, it will just sound like crap and you'll want a bigger cone.

Things to look for:  RMS vs Peak wattage.  Most of the time, when you are listening, you aren't getting but a few watts - RMS.  Its in the crashed, etc. that you hit your Peak.  If you underpower your speakers slightly, you won't blow them. 

If you are concerned about bass levels damaging your speakers, you could get a crossover, or in-line filter to roll-off those frequencies.  You should do this with your smaller door speakers, and let your bigger rear speakers handle the full range.

I can tell you from 20years of AUD listening at very high volumes that I've NEVER had a speaker blow.  The only time I've had a speaker go "bad" is when the surround rotted and tore.  This happens due to heat in the car, and is something that can't be helped sometimes... 

Wow, its been quite a few years since I've talked about car stereos...

Thanks,

Terry

PS What kind of system do you have now???