Why Small Speakers Can Sound Distorted at High Volume
A phone or laptop speaker can sound clear at moderate volume but become harsh, buzzy, or less detailed near its maximum setting. Turning the volume up asks the speaker to produce stronger sound, but a small speaker has limited room to move and limited electrical and thermal capacity. The useful mental model is simple: a speaker has a working range. Within that range, it can follow the audio signal reasonably well. As the system approaches its limits, the output may stop matching the requested signal as closely. That mismatch is heard as distortion.