Music said:
What is this and what harm can it do to a piece of equipment?
Thanks
Usually, when you average an AC waveform you get exactly 0V, which means the
wave is symmetrical about 0V. There might be some components esp. opamps and
amplifiers, which do add a DC-component to the output. Whereas a few
millivolts are usually of no concern and normal, an extended amount(Volts)
might harm loudspeakers. You can see the diaphragm going off center and
staying there, so the excursion is assymmetrical. This causes distortion and
heating of the voicecoil. A DC-offset can be blocked with a capacitor.