Patent ID: 8204236

Claim:
A speaker system, the system comprising: a number of speakers configured to generate sound waves as a function of speaker signals communicated thereto; one or more adjustment elements configured to adjust the speaker signals; a controller configured to control the adjustment elements in such as a manner as to protect the speakers from overload conditions without interrupting sound quality associated with the speaker system, wherein the controller identifies an overload percentage for one of the speakers when experiencing an overload condition, the overload percentage indicating a percentage by which the corresponding speaker signal is to be decreased in order to prevent the overload condition, wherein the controller controls the one or more adjustment elements to decrease each of the speaker signals by the overload percentage in order to protect the speakers, wherein a first portion of the speaker signals are powered at a level greater than a second portion of the speaker signals such that an amount of decrease is greater for the first portion of the speaker signals than the second portion of the speaker signals; and in the event two or more speakers are experience overload conditions, the controller determining the overload percentage for each of the two or more speakers and decreasing each of the speakers signals according to the greatest one of the overload percentages.