Did I damage my speakers??

Anthos

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I have acquired a pair of wharfedale evo 4.2 speakers a couple of weeks ago and are connected to a yamaha R-N602.
Everything had been fine up to today. While listening to some music through controlling spotify on my phone my hand slipped and I accidentily moved the volume slider to max for literally a split second. Ever since I seem to be getting some occassional clipping distortions when the volume is around ~-28db or louder, slightly lower volume than that and they seem to sound ok. I am pretty sure I wasn't getting any clipping thing before. Externally I can't see any damage to the speakers. Is there a chance I permanently damaged them??

P.s the speakers are rated at a max 125w while the amp at 115w, shouldn't the speakers tolerate 0db for a split second based on the specs? (i know that it's not thaaaat simple but still).
 
Obviously without knowing explicitly what's wrong this is tough to answer but is there a chance something like this be serviceable or did I just lose €700 in literally a flash?
 
I've managed to localize it and seems that's only one of the two speakers affected. I ll probably try my luck and see if I can get it serviced under warranty. Seems that the distortion is coming out of the amt tweeter.
 
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That’s an excellent start. If all else fails buy a new driver from Wharfedale it’s unlikely to be hard to replace.
 
I am a total noob at this but it seems to have this uncommon type of AMT tweeters and I am afraid it will be tough to source parts from a 3rd party (found nothing on ebay). Obviously Wharfedale itself should have spares I suppose but do they even sell directly to consumers?
I just happen to come from a small country that usually has terrible customer support (i.e you buy something, you open it, it doesn't work, shop refuses refund because.. you opened it) and I am just worried that they ll refuse to do anything. I ll know next week I guess. 🤷
 
Hi,

Sorry to hear about this issue. I'd also briefly try swapping speaker cables. If the issue changes to the other speaker, then it is the amp, not the speakers. Worth checking to make sure before you start spending money.
 
Ps. Maybe reach out to Wharfedale directly. They may be able to help.
 
I've ran my speakers at 0db a lot over he years as have many other AV guys. Doing while they're new...rough!
 
I ve been listening to music most of the day (at sound levels that weren't causing the distortion to be audible). Right before I left the house I turned the volume dial up to -25db and.. the distortion wasn't coming up.. held my breath, was out of the house for a couple of hours.. turned it on again when I came back, took it up to -20db (it used to be veeery evident even at -25db) and still no signs of clipping. I did put my ear next to the tweeter and it does seem to produce sound (thought just in case it was completely destroyed and wasn't distorting because it just wasn't producing ANY sound), (although with these (or any) tweeters it's kinda tough to pick up high frequency sounds the older you get).
I am not sure what to think, I 'd obviously like to believe that whatever was the issue was rectified but I don't wanna get my hopes too much up in case I wake up tomorrow and everything is back to how it was. I've set up max volume now either way so that should help from any recurrence. Fingers crossed I guess and take it from there... 🤷
 
which amplifier do you use?

If you were playing loud music for split second, this should have no bearing on the speakers.

You have an amplifier which can drive the speakers effortlessly without any distortions.

The only explanation I can tell is you were playing music with the deep bass, which the speakers couldn’t handle.
 
which amplifier do you use?

If you were playing loud music for split second, this should have no bearing on the speakers.

You have an amplifier which can drive the speakers effortlessly without any distortions.

The only explanation I can tell is you were playing music with the deep bass, which the speakers couldn’t handle.

My amp is the Yamaha R-N602.
The thing about the bass though is that I am pretty (but not 100%) that the distortion was coming from the tweeter since it was becoming a lot more evident when I would max the treble from the normal neutral position.
 
🤔The amp only delivers 115 in 1 kHz, no wonder the speakers are broken.
 
It delivers 80 watts only. Not 115 watt. It only does this in dynamic peaks.
 
So other words not all the time. Still the amplifier should handle speakers pretty well.

If you max the treble also you are asking for trouble.
 
So other words not all the time. Still the amplifier should handle speakers pretty well.

If you max the treble also you are asking for trouble.
Maxing the treble was just to localise the issue. It's left on neutral the rest of the time.

Still like I said earlier in the post some moments ago, the distortion seems to have vanished, at least for now. Unless my ears have become so fatigued by this long day that aren't picking half the audible range. Some of the rest you said I understood, some others flew over my head (well the forum is right to tag me as a "novice member").
 
The amplifier has 80 watts in both channel. This is 8 ohm.

It does not however deliver 115 watts, 105 watts in 4 ohm all the time, just in dynamic peaks.

TDH is also very high.
 
So perhaps the amplifier is not the best. I thought you meant 115 watt in both 8 ohm, 4 ohm.

Even so Yamaha does not make bad amplifier.

If the issue has resolved it self, then see how it goes.
 
I ve been listening to music most of the day (at sound levels that weren't causing the distortion to be audible). Right before I left the house I turned the volume dial up to -25db and.. the distortion wasn't coming up.. held my breath, was out of the house for a couple of hours.. turned it on again when I came back, took it up to -20db (it used to be veeery evident even at -25db) and still no signs of clipping. I did put my ear next to the tweeter and it does seem to produce sound (thought just in case it was completely destroyed and wasn't distorting because it just wasn't producing ANY sound), (although with these (or any) tweeters it's kinda tough to pick up high frequency sounds the older you get).
I am not sure what to think, I 'd obviously like to believe that whatever was the issue was rectified but I don't wanna get my hopes too much up in case I wake up tomorrow and everything is back to how it was. I've set up max volume now either way so that should help from any recurrence. Fingers crossed I guess and take it from there... 🤷
I am glad the issue appears to have resolved itself. The issue with amps and damaging speakers may seem counterintuitive at first glance: weak amps pushed to the max are more likely to blow a speaker than a powerful amp turned up. A weak amp will start distorting badly and clipping when turned up too high. The clipping signal easily damages the tweeter. Your amp is not especially powerful, nor is it a total lightweight, so it should be fine at modest volumes with the Evo 4.2 speakers, which aren't exactly hard to drive. BUT....turn it up too loud, and the amp may start clipping, which could damage the tweeters. Perhaps this happened when you accidentally hit the max volume? I would see how it goes. Hopefully it will be fine. To be on the safe side in future, either avoid turning up the volume too loud in general, get a more powerful amp, or get speakers that are much easier to drive. I hope it stays working though...good luck :)
 
I am glad the issue appears to have resolved itself. The issue with amps and damaging speakers may seem counterintuitive at first glance: weak amps pushed to the max are more likely to blow a speaker than a powerful amp turned up. A weak amp will start distorting badly and clipping when turned up too high. The clipping signal easily damages the tweeter. Your amp is not especially powerful, nor is it a total lightweight, so it should be fine at modest volumes with the Evo 4.2 speakers, which aren't exactly hard to drive. BUT....turn it up too loud, and the amp may start clipping, which could damage the tweeters. Perhaps this happened when you accidentally hit the max volume? I would see how it goes. Hopefully it will be fine. To be on the safe side in future, either avoid turning up the volume too loud in general, get a more powerful amp, or get speakers that are much easier to drive. I hope it stays working though...good luck :)
Thanks, time will tell I suppose.
Even though I did lots of research for many many months and even longer for the speakers and I still am very novice however I would have thought that the amp would be on the upper range of OK for this type of speakers. I mean I would have expected a €600 stereo receiver that is designed to drive just 2 channels (compared to av receivers that have to drive 7+ channels in the same price range) that they would have sufficed for €700 speakers (I know the comparison is not obviously made on cost but on specs but just simplifying it for argument's sake).
For now I've set the max volume to -20db. That should take care of any fingers sliding again. The rest is just a waiting game.
 
It doesn't really matter what the speakers and amp are rated at. If the amp is driven to clipping, it will pump out pure DC into the speakers which can fry voice coils quickly. The tweeter voice coil is more fragile than the woofer and normally overheats/burns out first. BUT, you may have got lucky and just caused a bit of overheating, which (once the speaker has cooled) has not caused any permanent damage.
 
Perhaps I can use an analogy regarding the amplifier.

It delivers 80 watts in 8 ohm, But it does not double the current (watt) till 80 watts in 4 ohm from 20-2000khz. Only used as example to explain what I mean.

Speaking of the analogy.

If you have dynamo on your bike; then you speed up by cycling faster. This gives dynamo more light. So in the dark you can see the road better.

If you then stop cycling fast, the dynamo is going to stop. In other words the light is darker.

This is dynamic peaks.
 
So be sensible when listing to music, don’t push the volume control to loud.
 

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