Are my speakers damaged?

Question

I was watching a horror movie and there was a super loud jump scare. My volume was at 70 out of 90.... If any of you guys watched " The Conjuring" it's the part were all the pictures fall down and it's a very loud crashing noise. I have been freaking out lately about if my speakers are damaged or not... What are the signs of damaged speakers?

Answer 1

The obvious determination is if there are drivers that are not producing output, tweeters (high frequency's) midrange (vocals) or woofers (bass frequency's). But drivers can be partially damaged and you wouldn't know it. conventional cone drivers have voice coils, wound copper coils of wire that the audio signal is sent through and then the cone or dome driver it self moves within the gap of this coil of wire. The wire can be partially damaged (burnt or chard) from excessive heat. Now the driver can still work sometimes, but it has been compromised.



Either play a mono piece of music, or if you have a mono stereo switch play some program material. If all the music sounds like its coming from between the two speakers and is clear you are probably ok.



The number on the volume control should only be used as a reference point to what the maximum volume should be. This is determined by the point it starts to sound distorted, you then never want to approach that volume level. Also as you found out, this can vary with each source as the output levels of most sources is different so your maximum volume will vary with each source material.



Kevin

40 years high end audio video specialist

Answer 2

If they do not play music as they used to before, then yes, they are likely damaged. If they do play music correctly then perhaps not so much. Watch out for the dynamic range of some movie effects. Some audio engineers seem to have no common sense at all. then again, you were running your system at over 75 percent gain, so what did you expect?

Answer 3

The easiest way is by having a knowledgeable person check them.



This doesn't mean just any audio nut down the street,

but someone with real technical skills...

as you would find at an audio repair shop.

Answer 4

are the speakers quiet?

is there smoke?

is the sound very different (not as clear)?

is the speakers rapidly changing how loud it is without touching the volume...

yes to any means the speakers are damaged

Answer 5

Never watch a horror movie when the volume is between 70 and 90.

Answer 6

They will sound very dull or they might make a crunchy sound on the bass hits. It will be pretty obvious.