Re: System down: Audiophile urgency

On Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:46:18 -0700, codifus wrote
(in article <fu8nga02b7t@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>):

> On Apr 16, 10:25 pm, "Dave" <dspear9...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> "codifus" <codi...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>> 
>> news:fu3bqu02ums@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Apr 14, 9:55 pm, "Arny
Krueger" 
>> <ar...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>> .........
>> 
>>> How hard would it be to take the Xover out and replace the components
>>> with higher grade stuff? I'm a novice when it comes this. Just
>>> wondering.
>> 
>> Technically, not difficult at all if you haven't heat-damaged a PCB
>> significantly.
>> 
>> But... are the speakers worth it?  You'll probably spend $50-$100 on
parts
>> after you get them all ****pped to you if you opt for some high-quality
caps
>> and chokes.  Then you might have issues with fit if the parts are
mounted on
>> a circuit board.  You could probably sell the speakers and invest the
same
>> $$ into a used pair of <much better> speakers which retail for more
than
>> $500 new.
>> 
>> Dave
> 
> True. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that the Tower IIs just
> can't handle extended listening at high power anymore. I've had them
> for about 4 years, and it was only in the last year, after adding the
> 0404USB to my system that the Tower IIs have been dying. That 0404USB
> made me enjoy music so much more that my listening time went up
> significantly, and the weakest link in my system therefore failed.
> 
> I guess I have to buy bigger speakers. Those Infinity Beta 50s, look
> nice, but I feel I may be jumping from the frying pan into the fire
> because they seem to have similar power handling capabilities to the
> Tower IIs. Something tells me that I'll be cooking something on those
> as well.
> 
> Funny how my increased enjoyment of my stereo has caused me to fry my
> speakers:)
> 
> CD

Do you listen at extremely high sound pressure levels? It seems that you
do. 
If so you need to look into types of speakers that are either very
efficient 
such as horns or speakers designed to handle big watts like those for
sound 
reinforcement. Both of these produce very high average levels without
damage. 
The horns because they turn more of the electrical energy from the
amplifiers 
into sound, and the reinforcement speakers because they are designed to
play 
loud using lots of power and to withstand the heat produced when that
power 
is translated into acoustical energy. Like any machine, speakers turn
wasted 
energy into heat and if the speakers aren't designed to handle that kind
of 
duty, damage can result.