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How loud can I 'safely' play my Dynaudio Focus 140

Hello folks,

A random question from a total newbie. Did a quick search here but, still had some lingering questions so here goes.

Just recently traded in a pair of Dynaudio Audience 42s for a pair of Focus 140s and was wondering how loud I can crank these guys up without stressing them out. I don't have a fancy powerful amp but, I tend to listen to music at a fairly loud level and was curious as to if that listening style hurts the speakers at all. To clarify, when I mean loud, it isn't to the point where the sound gets distorted and I can't hear myself think so I'm assuming everything is cool but, I wanted to see what others think.

What are the rules of thumb when it comes to taking care of speakers? Are there any tell tale signs to look out for in order to avoid frying a tweeter or blowing a woofer out aside from obvious sonic distortions?

On a random side note, if anybody has any suggestions on a great amp to match the Focus 140s with please let me know!

Just started working on putting together a stereo system and so far loving every minute of it!

Thanks!!
ucsb21
cdc
1,668 posts
 
Mr. Shadorne should love this. Active pro monitors are spec'd for loudness, unlike your garden variety audiophile stuff.
Dynaudio BM-5 = 116 dB peak
Should be able to play at 100-105dB all day long.
GO ACTIVE!!
rayden1972
22 posts
 
One very important factor in my opinion is the room size where the speakers are placed and the distance to listening position. If you have a small/ish room than both the speakers and the amp have to do less to pressurise it specially in terms of bass. However the same speaker and amp will run out of steam in a big/ger room.
musicnoise
377 posts
 
Keep in mind that there are limits to all speakers, even for undistorted signals. If you hook up kilowatt monoblocks to those speakers and crank it up you will cook the speakers irrespective of distortion.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
Cdd,

Yes that it pretty impressive for a small two way. It us a testament to the driver build quality from Dynaudio that it can play so loud.

I am not sure 100-105 db SPL all day long is a good idea, however, for the peaks that occur in good dynamic recordings it would likely be more exhilarating/realistic/lively with a speaker that is less stressed/compressed or dull sounding.

You are right that pro speakers are spec'd for loudness. At modest volumes there are all kinds of choices that play well with low distortion. The choices only become limited at quite high volumes (overkill for many audiophiles no doubt).
ucsb21 OP
9 posts
 
Any thoughts on Classe products? thought I'd throw one more name out there to see if anybody has had any experience with them. Their CAP 2100 looks interesting.
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