AM radio noise effect on speakers?

Mike682

I was talking to a salesman at CC about speakers. Anyway, the topic of AM radio came up and he said that static from AM radio can be taxing on speakers. My question, is this true? I listen to talk radio on AM stations and during the summer there can be a lot of static. Most of the static is on the treble side (high pitch noise).

Just wondering...

Putting on the flame suit just in case

steveinaz

I think you answered your own question....the AM signals are always present, tuner or not. If AM static was some how "bleeding" into your system, you'd hear it all the time, with all sources.

Sounds like BS to me.

Mike682

Steveinaz,

Thanks for the reply

I was referring to actually listening to AM radio. Of course the AM signals do not "bleed" into all sources. The salesman was saying the noise heard from AM radio (while having AM radio selected)can be damaging to the speakers.

I personally do not believe this but thought I would post the question here to see if anyone has heard this.

steveinaz

Oh, I understand what you're saying now...no, that noise won't hurt your speakers...

mhardy6647

Well, high levels (i.e., high drive voltage) of high-frequency sound could certainly damage tweeters (maybe even MR's). AM static is essentially white noise, but it's doubtful that the HF response of your AM tuner exceeds 5 kHz (maybe 7 kHz), so realistically there's probably not much concern.

Just don't play the AM too loud! :-)

Actually, if you like AM (or need to listen to something on AM), you might want to consider a classic, tubed AM/FM tuner or radio, or even a 'communications receiver' (AM/SW general coverage). Back when AM was still a significant medium for entertainment, there were some fine sounding tuners and radios for home and professional use.

As to communications receivers, take a look at:
www.universal-radio.com

The venerable but still-produced GE "SuperRadio III" offers an inexpensive and good-performing AM radio section.

Larry Chanin

Originally posted by Mike682
I was talking to a salesman at CC about speakers.

Now there's your problem.

The salesman was saying the noise heard from AM radio (while having AM radio selected)can be damaging to the speakers.

Seriously, don't you think that pink noise test tones played at 75 dB, that every surround processor/ receiver produces to calibrate speaker levels, would pose orders of magnitude higher risk to speakers than typical levels of AM noise?

I suppose that technically your Circuit City "expert" could be correct if he played AM noise at 120+ dB like he plays everything else on his car radio. :rolleyes:

Larry

Mike682

Thanks for the replies everyone....as always very good info on this site