I can play a clipped signal through any speaker and it'll be just fine as long as it can handle the power that's being applied to it.
Theory is all fine and dandy... But.. if that's true.. then riddle me this...
6 different Cerwin Vega XL-15D's (i.e. 3 sets of two) were sent back to CV due to fried voice coils. Amount of power on them? 240watts each (bridged Carver M4120). Speaker rating was 250-500 watts (cant remember exact number, but I know I was under it).
4th set never blew - even when I upgraded to a PPI A600 and moved the carver to the front/rear speakers. Why? The tard that was frying them (that would be me when I was 16) was clipping the ever loving crap out of the amp. Once that tard (again, me when I was 16) learned WTH clipping was, and STOPPED doing it, speakers never blew again.
So... from personal experience, I know for a fact that clipping an amp on a speaker, especially at high power levels, and even BELOW the power level of the speakers, can and will fry a voice coil.
Experiment number 2 - the "flip side" of this argument. A friend wanted to fry his RF Series 1 because the warranty was almost up, and he wanted a new one (or a new cone and VC at least) before hand. Series 1's were rated around 150 WRMS (IIRC). He brought it to my house, we hooked it up to a bridged Carver TFM-25 (that would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 750 watts) and played some hard bass tracks through it. And get this... the sub was sitting free air on the living room floor! It never blew. We actually gave up. Of course that Carver amp had one hell of a clean signal, and didn't clip a single time.
So, again, theories are all well and good, and I've heard (read) them all before. However, experience speaks at a much louder volume.
I'm just sayin....