I am about to replace my 4" dash speakers for like the 8th time the past 5 years. So I blow them on average more than once per year. I always used Infinity Reference speakers. They apparently would handle 35 Watts RMS. Now I just got my new Infinity Kappa 42.7i speakers. New for 2005. These state they handle 50 Watts RMS and I can tell just by looking at them that they are way better in construction and design. Especially the crossover.

But, I REALLY don't want to end-up blowing these as well! So someone told me that you can install a "light bulb" or something so that when it lights up, you know that the speakers are clipping or being over powered or something. I can't really remember what the heck they said exactly.

Does anyone know what I am talking about? Does installing a small light bulb in series with a speaker help you from blowing them in anyway? I am confused...

PS It's always the tweeters that blow, never blown the midrange itself, just always the tweeter, and only noticable during the highs of a song.

 

OK...but what will this actually DO exactyl?? If I'm driving along and I see the bulb start to light-up does that mean "turn the volume down" or something??

Thanks

 

A light bulb will have next to no resistance (maybe 1.5, to 5 ohms, depending on the type of bulb) when it's cold (unlit). Once it heats up enough to light up, the resistance of the filament rises considerably (up to 15 or more ohms). When you play undistorted power to a set of speakers, only about 10% of that power gets to the tweeter. When the amp clips, it is essentially playing a square wave, which contains all frequencies at full power. Having the right bulb in series with your tweeter will cut the power back only when the amp clips.

Try a 4 or 5 Watt bulb on the tweets, and if it lights up before the music distorts, get a slightly higher wattage bulb..
The best answer tho is to buy a bit more power for the speakers, and use the HPF filter on the amp to keep out the bass.