Limiter to protect monitors?

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After mistakenly toasting my second set of tweeters in my Event monitors (see my other post in the 'Other Equipment' forum for details) , I was on the phone w/ Event, asking about the possibility of using a fuse to protect the tweeters.

They (Josh, good guy...) suggested that I try a limiter instead, because a fuse w/ a value low enough to protect the tweeter, would limit the usable volume of the speaker. (Transients that are acceptable to the tweeter would blow a fast-blo fuse. A slo-blo would allow the tweeter to be damaged before blowing)

I just happen to have a Symetrix 522 Comp/Limiter that I am not using for anything, but I am leary of inserting anything into that particular signal path that could alter the signal/sound.

Any conmments or suggestions?? (other than making sure my mic channel is completely OFF before re-engaging my powered monitors 7 feet away...:rolleyes: )
 
After a couple similar experiences in my repair shop, I hung a big sign that says "ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THAT?". It makes me think.
 
...I hung a big sign that says "ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THAT?". It makes me think.
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That's great!!!... I may go that route as well!!! Hell, I may stock up on those for the tool shed, studio, kitchen, game room, garage....
 
I will give you the same advice I was given, and I give to everyone. It works in all instances, forever. Are you ready? Listen up because I'm only going to tell you once.
 
Don't Fuck Up!

That's it. works every time and in all situations.

Now, go forth and record.
 
Don't Fuck Up!

That's it. works every time and in all situations.

Now, go forth and record.!
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Gee.... uh.... thanks.....
Those are exactly the same words uttered to me by my Father in 1981, when he sent me off to college...
(All except the Recording part....)

So, I assume you are not in favor of using a limiter to prevent speaker damage, if one should say..... "F*** Up"...

By your statements, I assume I should not need safety belts, condoms or bail insurance either!!!
 
I've actually wondered about the fuse the tweeter issue. It's good to hear the dope from a manufacturer. I think you may be right about the limiter in the path. I think it's gonna change the sound, even if it isn't working, unless you spend some major $$$. I wonder if you could set it high enough. I don't push my monitors anywhere near their peak output, so I could set it to kick in a bit before their peak input voltage, and know I was never gonna trigger the thing under normal circumstances. But I'd still wonder what it was doing to my mix.
 
Boingo,
I guess the only way for me to know will be to try it... (To see if there is a non-theoretical impact on the sound). I was just looking for some common experiences with this situation. It will be pretty easy for me to A/B with the limiter IN/OUT.

I don't know if I can be trusted to never "F*** Up" again... :rolleyes:

I'm going to use a Symetrix 522, which I am not using for anything else. (It's a strange beast... no makeup gain control... seems perfect for this task)

I'll keep you posted on the results.
 
boingoman said:
I wonder if you could set it high enough. I don't push my monitors anywhere near their peak output, so I could set it to kick in a bit before their peak input voltage, and know I was never gonna trigger the thing under normal circumstances.
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The problem is that the peak voltage that would kill the speaker would be different at different frequencies. 100 watts worth of a 20hz signal is nothing. 100 watts of 16khz is almost enough to make sure you can't have children. You would need to place the limiter after the crossover to even begin to make this work. The bottom line is that a limiter in line with the speakers would not protect the tweeters from blowing without having it set so low that you would not be able to mix through it.
 
Get the 20/20bas these have limiters built in. The other thing is by the time you buy all the stuff to make this work. (and if you are using cheap stuff, it really won't) you could have gotten better monitors that wouldn't have this problem.
If you put a limiter on the monitors, they are not accurate anymore, what is coming out of the board is not what you are listening to.
 
Thanks Farview...
That's a good point, and I (nor did Event Electronics) think of that... I've used Limiters in FOH systems, but I think (if I can remeber that far back) that it was AFTER the crossover... I really don't recall...

Might require some more thought.... or I could just (you guessed it) "Not F*ck Up"!!! :D :D
 
What's the signal path from mic to monitor? If there is an A/D/A conversion, you could set your power amp to not blow the tweeter at 0dBFS. So if you accidentally create a feedback loop, you'd clip the AD converter and not toast your tweeter.
 
What's the signal path from mic to monitor? If there is an A/D/A conversion....
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It's completely Analog... it's my control room/latency free/monitoring side of things...
 
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