Operating instructions

18
Power and acoustic pressure
How loud a speaker is able to play and still sound
good is completely dependent on the signal it has
to reproduce. So, in practice, you cannot defi ne an
unequivocal level for use in comparing different
speakers.
Obviously, lots of pure, undistorted output from
a large amplifi er is better than a distorted signal
from a small amplifi er stretched beyond its capac-
ity. The signal from a distorting (clipping) amplifi er
contains much more high-frequency information
than an undistorted signal, and therefore puts a
heavy strain on the tweeter. Consequently, speak-
ers are most often damaged by small amplifi ers
having to work too hard - and very rarely by large
amplifi ers, which are practically running idle.
It is worth noting that when the tone controls are
turned above the neutral setting this signifi cantly
burdens both speakers and amplifi er. On a good
sound system tone controls should only be used
to compensate for poor recordings and not to per-
manently compensate for weaknesses elsewhere
in the system. So, DALI recommends that the
tone controls generally be set to the neutral posi-
tion, and you achieve your desired sound image
through correct positioning of the speakers.
Ensuring that you keep the volume low enough so
the sound remains clear and undistorted will mini-
mise the strain on both speakers and amplifi er.
All DALI loudspeakers are designed with linear
impedance to be an optimal amplifi er load. The
result is signifi cantly more open and detailed
sonic image.