Clipping is one of those non-intuitive electronics terms that basically means the amplifier has exceeded its maximum power output. When this happens, an oscilloscope will show the waveform with the top part of the audio signal "clipped off" (imagine an upside-down, U-shaped curve with the top section flattened, or "clipped"). When an amplifier "clips" the waveform, it produces a substantial amount of distortion until the power supply recovers sufficiently, or the volume is turned down. Severe clipping is quite audible, and if not corrected you can burn out the tweeters (which are the drivers most susceptible to damage from clipping-induced distortion), and sometimes the mid-range driver as well.
Clipping is a problem when you have a low-power amp, or very inefficient speakers that require a lot of power to drive them. There are three solutions:
1. play the speakers at lower sound pressure levels (volume) to reduce the demand on the amplifier;
2. get more efficient speakers (every 3db increase in efficiency reduces by half the amount of needed amplifier power);
3. get a more power amplifier (remembering that a 3db power increase requires a doubling of amplifier power).
Clipping is a problem when you have a low-power amp, or very inefficient speakers that require a lot of power to drive them. There are three solutions:
1. play the speakers at lower sound pressure levels (volume) to reduce the demand on the amplifier;
2. get more efficient speakers (every 3db increase in efficiency reduces by half the amount of needed amplifier power);
3. get a more power amplifier (remembering that a 3db power increase requires a doubling of amplifier power).