In my experience there is no direct correlation at all. I own a pair of Thiel CS6 speakers which are some of the least sensitive speakers out there (86 dB) and I drive them with a Krell KSA 300S. I've been to 3 audio shows (AXPONA, Tampa, and PAF) and I've heard quite a variety of horn speakers. There was a large variation in the sound quality from the horns I heard but none of them were more microdynamic than my Thiels. You can blame the room or many other factors but my point is that in my direct experience I can't make a blanket judgement that horns are better at any aspect of SQ. I also can't make a blanket judgement that dynamic cones or any other design is uniformly better. I have heard fantastic speakers that had horns, dynamic drivers, and film diaphrams. And one of the worst sounds I heard at a show were from speakers with horns.
Loudspeaker sensitivity and dynamics: are the two inexorably linked?
Have been listening to quite a few speakers lately, and increasingly I've noticed that more sensitive speakers tend to have better microdyanmics - the sense that the sound is more "alive" or more like the real thing.
The speakers involved include my own Magico A5's, Joseph Audio Pulsar 2's, and Wilson Watt/Puppy 7's, as well as others including the Magico M3, Wilson Alexia V, various Sonus Faber's, Magnepan's, Borressen's, and Rockport models (Cygnus and Avior II).
A recent visit to High Water Sound in NYC topped the cake though: proprietor and vinyl guru Jeff Catalano showed off a pair of Cessaro horns (Opus One) that literally blew our minds (with a few listening buddies). The Cessaro's sensitivity is rated at 97 db, highest among the aforementioned models. That system was very close to live performance - and leads to the topic.
I'm not referring to maximum loudness or volume, rather that the music sounds less reproduced and more that the instrumentation and vocals are more real sounding through higher sensitivity speakers.
Is this a real phenomenon? Or is it more the particular gear I've experienced?
Thoughts?