Speaker break-up
The point at which a guitar speaker is driven hard enough that its cone and motor begin to distort, adding compression and harmonic colour.
Guitar speakers are deliberately built to distort before they fail, and that distortion is part of the sound of most recorded rock: the cone stops tracking the signal exactly, the low end compresses and the midrange thickens. Break-up depends on the speaker's power rating relative to the amplifier, which is why a low-wattage amplifier into a high-rated speaker sounds clean while the reverse sounds compressed and aggressive. It is also why vintage speakers are prized even when their measured response is uneven.
Example: A small amplifier pushed through a speaker rated just above its output will reach speaker break-up well before full volume.
See also
Related
- PageSpeaker
- PageHeadroom
- PageDistortion
- PageAmp in a box
- PageAmp stand
- PageAttenuator
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley