EFFICIENCY


I have A Classe amp rated at 100 watts per channel into 8omhs and 190 watts into 4omhs.I am looking at two speakers,one has an efficiency rating of 86 and the other 90.How important is this difference in the final sound quality?
pegasusxls
Are you just thinking out loud Pegausxls?

No one here can make purchasing decisions for you. How much better, and how much you want to spend are personal choices that only you can make.
Is there any truth to the claim that, generally speaking, the same number of Class A watts play louder, or seemingly so, than Class A/B - I hear this all the time, but don't know if it is true.
Yes,Pubul57, there is truth in some watts sound better than other watts.No,Jmcgrogan2, I am not thinking out loud,there are many here that have already experienced what I am about to experience and some that can give good sound advice to help me in my decisions.
Efficiency is a relative rating. My speakers are officially rated at 90 dB. However, the manufacturer recommends a minimum of 100 watts, and "200 watts for full musical enjoyment". I've tried many different amps over the years and ended up with 400 WPC amps (at 8 ohms, my speakers are 4 ohms).

So, how can this be? I don't know how the 90 dB rating was identified (I suspect from the driver manufacturer, but who knows?) but they are less efficient than some speakers with lower ratings. It could be that more power is needed because of the impedance curve across the frequency band - they dip below 3 ohms at two points. Or it could be the complexity of the 1st order crossover. A friend who knows electronics looked at the crossover board and jested that all it needed was an input transformer and it could be it's own amplifier.

On paper you should get at least 105 dB from a 100 WPC amp driving a 86 dB speaker. Even allowing for headroom, that would be adequate for most of us in an average room. But all this relates to level before clipping, not "final sound quality". I don't think your question can be answered by anything other than a personal evaluation.
I have driven my Thiel 2.4 (87dB/M) to pretty loud levels with a 130W amp and you have a 190W amp. So there is really no issue with regards to not having enough power for either speaker except for the 2.3 Ohms impedence with the CS6.