Is the most efficient speaker the best speaker?

Atmasphere is absolutely right. Horns rule. Lower power requirements equals more headroom and better dynamics.
Put your dollars into amplifier refinement rather than raw power. Quality over quantity.

Comparing a planar to a horn is like comparing a slingshot to a rifle.

When was the last time you attended a concert or a sporting event in a stadium or arena where planar speakers were used for sound reinforcement?

If your answer is "never", then maybe you were listening to horns. And maybe horns were used because the deluded engineers are horn zealots. Maybe if they had the sense of a weseixas they would have used panels instead.

Or, maybe horns were used because they project sound better and convey dynamics better.

The arguments above comparing 200 watts on a planar to 2 watts in a horn are silly. If you want intimate presentation in a confined space, then SET might be your best choice. But if you are looking for the Power and the Glory, then put your 200 watts on the horns and forget that planars exist because you won't be able to hear them.

I own a Prius and I love it - but I'm not going to get in a pissing contest with truck owners over towing capability. Planars are nice in the drawing room - they allow for polite conversation.

I believe it was Earl Geddes who said, "Science is not a democracy".

What he meant is simply this: Facts are facts and are not subject to voter approval.

No matter how many fools choose to disagree with him, Atmasphere remains correct in his statement.

Along with bootlegging, the movie industry existed as one of the principle growth industries during the Great Depression. When sound came to movies, the need for sound projection was forced by the desire to sell more tickets in bigger houses. This resulted in hyper-efficient horn loudspeakers that could fill increasingly larger spaces with increasingly greater fidelity, even though the tube amplification of the day was limited to just a few watts. There was no stereo.

The greatest American speaker designer of all time, Harry Olson, created designs in those days which have never been exceeded.

The statement that more compact, less expensive speakers were developed for mass consumption is accurate. The comment about those speakers being superior is inaccurate. They did, however, sell better just as they were intended to do. They cost maybe $100 each and could be set up in small spaces. Their use would not have been possible were it not for solid state power. They provided difficult loads and demanded much more power than horns but the masses could afford to buy and house them. So they crept onto the scene.

Meanwhile, horns driven by these early solid state amplifiers were strident and coarse. Garbage in/garbage out!

Today, as we argue, we need to acknowledge that SS has come a very long way and that there are certainly dome tweet model speakers that
can play music very well. Not all horns are wonderful. However, when the discussion turns to ultimate superiority in the reproduction of a live musical event, when cost no object products are introduced, and when honesty overrides cloudy bias, horns prevail. Twas always thus.

Acurus - Don't criticize what you can't understand.
It would appear that spelling is not your greatest weakness.

Just stop and think about why it bothers you that other people are discussing a subject among themselves. Try with all your might to figure out what gnarly synapse in your cranial enterprise is offended. Then, if you master that challenge, try to determine why it bothers you so much that you choose to lash out at us for chatting about our respective beliefs.

It's not like we're standing in your front yard or anything.

Okay! I'm not using tubes either although I have a pair of tubed monos stashed. The topic really is speaker efficiency and whatever advantages it provides.

The best is whatever you prefer. There is no intellectual way to establish actual factual superiority without measurements and these forums generally decline that pathway when it is presented. This is an emotional experience that cannot be assessed and evaluated by cold, unfeeling machines.

So -- we pirouette endlessly basking in polysyllabics and wielding cliches and formulae to no end whatsoever.

I prefer the comfort afforded by stable and manageable impedance and high efficiency. It allows for easier amplifier matching and vastly broadens the number of amplifier options I can consider. Likewise, it reduces the amount I have to spend to purchase the horsepower necessary to drive my speakers.

But don't get me wrong. I haven't forgotten the other option. I remember all too well how I could have a big name speaker which sometimes drops to 1 ohm impedance and requires 600 watts of Class A power to move it's constricting and elaborate passive crossover network. Naturally I give that option the exact amount of consideration it deserves every time I consider changing my system.

So far, I have not seen fit to return to a choke box. Maybe I'll have a panel speaker again someday but it seems unlikely to happen as of now.

Nonetheless, tastes change --- even if practicality and common sense do not.

Please don't use the phrase "fair and balanced" if you want to be taken seriously. I have been conditioned to expect partisan lies to follow whenever I see or hear that slogan. Southern accent is another flag.

Good news, Ralph.
I for one would be grateful if the doctor would just measure us and lets know what we like so that these interminable debates could cease.

Horns are a tremendously misunderstood and under-examined speaker option.
Maybe the following article will help some of you if you take the time to read it carefully.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/hornographic1/1.html

There are many audio designers, inventors and tinkerers who have, by turns, examined every option at every level and facet of sound reproduction. They are the pioneers, the ground breakers, the independent thinkers who make new discoveries and refine older ones.
Unlike established conventional companies who are constantly peddling Mark II, Revised or Signature versions to a captive audience via bought reviews, these guys operate below the headlines doing the real work.
While it cannot be said that they all ultimately gravitate to horns, too many do just that for us to ignore the option completely.

Bill Woods is one of the most sought after loudspeaker design consultants in the world. He works for many companies on all manner of designs but ultimately the best product he can offer is a horn. Chris Brady is the ultimate DIYer. He created Teres Turntables from his home and has built his entire system with the exception of the speakers. When I met him he had EdgarHorns. Noe he has the Cogent Field Coil system, designed by Steve Schell and Rich Drysdale with design and construction assistance from Bill Woods. If you are not aware of Jonathan Weiss of Oswald's Mill fame, you really don't have a clue about "cutting edge". The best is yet to come but you won't find out about it in Stereophile or TAS. You have to open your mind and be willing to abandon cliche wisdom in order to benefit from the many possibilities which go unnoticed by the smug and conceited.

Horns may not be for you. There are many situations where they plainly do not fit. However, if you start thinking more about how to make them work for you and stop thinking that they embody inconvenience, expense and disappointment, you will discover a kind of sound reproduction your current speakers cannot ever achieve.