12inch pb, how loud can i crank up the speakers without blowing them?

[flycheese]

i would have thought that apple would have made the volume sliders and the eq within a safe range for the speakers so they cant blow, i wonder if anyone knows?
thankyou most kindly.
maggy filbins mouse.:D

[patrick0brien]

-flycheese

Well, one would think. Personally, I thnk you'll have to go out of your way to blow the speakers in the 12PB, especially due to the midrange to take the heat off the R and L.

My rule of thumb, computer speakers or otherwise, is to keep the volume at a level below distortion. You can't really blow modern speakers if you keep that in mind.

An additional note, some songs are mastered louder than others, and all songs have different timbres and audio bandwidth. Those with a large bass or low-mid component will distort the most - even a reasonable levels.

[WinterMute]

I doubt you'll damage them with the internal amps, remember that the audio system is based on 16-bit 44.1 Khz PCM digital audio, it has a mathematically limited dynamic range, some tracks sound louder because they have been compressed and carry a higher average energy level (loudness), measured by RMS, peak level cannot exceed the systems limits.

Crank 'em up, if it sounds bad, turn 'em down till it sounds good again. Distortion (square wave) in and of itself won't damage speakers, exessive amplitude will (big amps and little speakers).

Better still, get a good pair of self powered monitors and really rock out.:D :D

(Internal mac speakers generally suck)

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by flycheese
i would have thought that apple would have made the volume sliders and the eq within a safe range for the speakers so they cant blow, i wonder if anyone knows?
thankyou most kindly.
maggy filbins mouse.:D

If they are anything like my 15 inch powerbook speakers, you'll be buying headphones for any public places that emit even a slightly loud ambient volume, such as a normal car going down the highway. they don't generally put a lot out at max with normal media, like DVDs and CDs and most MP3 i have played. in the car on the highway i can't make out most voices. don't worry about blowing them, for sure. I have a receiver at home i hook up to, plus some sennheiser HD 570 headphones for when i am away from the receiver. on the road, it's my sennheiser MX 500 earbud phones. they're all pretty nice, especially the 570s. apple speaker volume is idiot-proof, if not loud enough for many situations.

[flycheese]

thanks, thats great!

what are the self powered monitors you speak of?

jimmy crankies pop socks.:D

[WinterMute]

There are a lot of computer speaker systems on the market that have their own amps built into the speakers, they're known as active monitors in studios, it saves the hassle of separate amps and speakers.

Studio grade monitors are very expensive, but standard computer speakers can be very nice at a good price, much better than the internal speakers anyway.

[iJon]

yeah the powerbook 12's speakers suck ass, you probably wont be able to blow them because they hardly get loud. if you turn up the 17 inch powerbook speakers up half way it sounds bout the same as full way turned up on the 12 inch powerbook.

iJon