Over excursion is the term for when too much bass causes the speaker cones to move excessively beyond their limitations. The cones will inevitably crack and deform over time. Midrange speakers aren’t made to play low frequencies, so they are quickly damaged by a bass that is too loud.
I’ll go into great depth about how bass may harm speakers and how bass boost affects them. Later, we’ll look at several more elements that, aside from bass, can harm a speaker. Let’s briefly go over how a speaker functions in order to ensure that you thoroughly grasp this idea.
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Can bass boost damage subwooferss?
Speakers and subwoofers should typically be able to handle bass increase. Only when the SPL is exceptionally high is there a risk of injury. Increasing the bass could be damaging at really loud volumes. It’s crucial to maintain reasonable volume levels to prevent harming subwoofers and speakers. The subwoofer and speaker cone sizes and construction quality will determine how well they can handle different sound pressure levels.
Perhaps the bass in the music you’re listening to isn’t powerful enough for you to enjoy it, or you frequently turn up the bass. Whatever the cause, you have undoubtedly already pondered if increasing the bass is a good idea. Can speakers be harmed by bass boost? Most speakers are immune to any damage from bass boost. An extra bass won’t harm speakers in any way. Increasing the bass, however, can easily harm the speakers when the volume is too high or the Sound Pressure Level (SPL) is high.
The speaker cone will undoubtedly suffer if the bass is turned up and the volume is turned up loud. As a general rule, whenever you consider increasing the bass, consider the overall volume and how loud the speakers are currently playing. Reduce the volume if you believe it to be too loud before increasing the bass. You run the danger of blowing it if you don’t.
How can Bass Damage Speakers?
Low audio frequencies are more difficult to hear compared to mid- and high-frequency sounds at the same loudness level. That is simply due to the spectrum of human hearing. Mid- and higher-frequency sounds are typically considerably simpler for our ears to detect than low-frequency sounds.
Amplifiers are made to play bass at a considerably louder volume than the mids and highs so that all three frequencies can be heard at the same volume. But how does it accomplish this?
To play low bass frequencies, amplifiers provide a stronger electrical current to the voice coil of the speaker. And as I mentioned earlier, the magnetic field of the voice coil gets stronger as the electrical current increases. The speaker cone moves more vigorously the stronger the magnetic field of the voice coil. The sound produced by a speaker cone increases in volume as it moves further and more vigorously.