2. home-theater
  3. 1327085000

Speaker damage from running

Will running the main L/R speakers in "full-range" and no .1 LFE channel damage the speakers? That is, will routing the .1 LFE channel to the main L/R speakers cause damage?

Here's my proposed setup. I have a combo 5.1 HT/2-channel music system, with a HT receiver and a 2-channel integrated with HT-bypass. Right now, the main L/R speakers are connected to the integrated and the subwoofer is connected to the receiver to its "sub" pre-out. Main L/R pre-outs on the receiver are connected to the HT-bypass on the integrated. When I watch movies, all the 5 speakers are set to "small" and their bass gets routed to the sub, along with the LFE channel.

Now, I'd like to incorporate the sub into 2-channel listening, so I'd connect the sub to the integrated's pre-outs (the full-range L/R pre-outs, there is no dedicated sub connection on the integrated). (I would disconnect the sub from the receiver.) I'd use the sub's low-pass filter, and still run the speakers full-range for 2-channel music listening.

For movies, I would tell the receiver that there is no subwoofer and change the main L/R speakers to "full-range." This would then route all the bass to those two main speakers, and also to the sub through its connection on the integrated.

Now the original question. Will the main speakers get damaged from this full-range movie signal?

Equipment:
Integrated: Cambridge 840a v2
Receiver: Marantz SR7001
Speakers: B&W CM7
Sub: old JBL something
markhyams

Showing 1 response by hifihvn

hifihvn
943 posts
 
A big part of the answer to this would be, what the listener does with the volume. A lot of us get by doing this all the time. With movies, it's riskier. In my one system for TV, if I switch my sub on, I hear a lot of deep bass that's there (some movies) that my speakers won't reproduce. There may be deep bass moving your woofers a lot, eating a ton of power that you may not realize, since they won't reproduce the sound (although the woofers are moving), and you can't hear it.

It's important to have plenty of power, and important to recognize when something no matter how small, doesn't sound right. You need to lower the volume quickly, and keep it low enough to make sure that distortion never appears again. If you have a good ear, and are careful, you should be OK. Running an underpowered amp out of power can cause damage quickly.
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