[lazyhaze]

I work at a campus radio station, and one of the volunteer dj's has blown the on-air monitor speakers. before they are replaced, what is the easiest (read cheapest) way to prevent this happening in the future? is there some way of capping the signal no matter how much they turn up the volume on the board?

 

[Karp]

You could always put a fuse or circuit breaker on the positive wire going to each speaker. Not going to help the fidelity of the speakers, but it will keep them from blowing.

 

[DonoMan]

Get more powerful speakers or a smaller amp so that the speakers CAN'T be blown.

 

[SRR]

Assuming you just want something that is cheap, and you truly want a limiter, get this: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CLE2/

 

[scooter_29]

A limiter is not going to solve your problem here. A compressor/limiter can in fact make matters worse depending on the situation. The only way to ensure that you don't blow the speakers is to get A) Bigger Speakers, B) Bigger Amplifiers that won't clip when being driven hard, and C) adjust the gain structure on the board so that you simply can't turn the volume up loud enough.


BTW- Getting a smaller amp will increase the likelihood that you will blow your speakers, not decrease it.

 

[flyingvee]

fuse em. after he blows the fuse a few times, and hears nothing, he'll get the idea. won't hurt fidelity - all my Maggies have fuses, thank heaven - had a tube short out - would have lost ribbon for sure without a handy fuse. much rather spend a quarter than 500 bucks.