Am I damaging my amp?

Tommy B

Tommy B

Tommy B

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Hey guys,

At Uni no one seems to have seen a proper Hi-Fi setup before, they're all used to useless PC speakers. Needless to say I quite often have people wanting to come and rave it up in my room, which means my poor amp is put to the test. The problem is, it quite often overheats and turns itself on to standby. I'm worried I might be damaging it?

I have a NAD C320BEE driving Eltax Symphony 6.0s

Is there anything I can buy to drive the speakers louder?

Cheers
 
What's the nominal impedance of your speakers, and rated load for the amp? It sounds like overcurrent protection is kicking in...

It is much easier to kill speakers than an amp...
 
The NAD's 50W@8ohms which isnt bad, but its not exactly a powerhouse either. It could well be that the speakers are a tricky load, and drawing too much current for the amp to cope with.

A more powerfull amp will drive high levels for longer without overheating, although to get louder needs a lot more power. I believe that to get double the volume (an increase of 10dB) you need 10 times the power output.

What is the sensitivity of the speakers (Normally rated as ??dB@1w@1m), and do you know the impedance.
 
impedance is 8ohms
I can't find any other information other than sinus power : 80W and music power : 150W

cheers for the advice
 
Tommy B said:
Hey guys,

Is there anything I can buy to drive the speakers louder?

Cheers
Click to expand...

A bigger amp !!! ;)
Does the NAD have pre out sockets, if so get a S/H power amp to partner it. Either something from the NAD range, or some old kit being sold off on the bay... ie Big old Quad or Musical Fidelity. You might find as Mr _S did a cheap Linn LK280, these would work all day without complaint.
 
It has Main In and Pre Out sockets which are connected to one another. How exactly would I wire it should I get a power amp?

Cheers
 
Tommy B said:
It has Main In and Pre Out sockets which are connected to one another. How exactly would I wire it should I get a power amp?

Cheers
Click to expand...

You remove the links, then use a phono leads to connect the "Pre OUT" to the "IN" on the new power amp.
Hook the speaker leads up to the new power and away you go :)
 
As to whether you are damaging your amp, probably not. The fact that it's cutting out and you aren't presenting weird loads to it (ie. your speaker impedance matches that of your amp) means that it is literally just cutting out due to over heating, and that's a safety mechanism built in to prevent damage :)
 
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