1+ There is no connection at all. Good examples are Horns and ESLs two vastly different types of loudspeakers. Horns are very efficient while ESLs are not. Both are very dynamic in the portions of the frequency range they can handle correctly primarily because their transient response is so fast and they are not spraying sound all over the place both being very directive in specific patterns. An excellent example of an instrument that both get right while other types of speakers struggle is the snare drum. Both ESLs and Horns have limitations in terms of frequency response requiring crossovers and low frequency support. While you can make a bass/subwoofer horn, the size requirement is extremely prohibitive so most horn systems revert to regular dynamic drivers. ESLs do well down to 100 Hz then suffer greatly actually limiting their dynamic potential. Supported by subwoofers people can't believe how loud an dynamic ESLs can get. Just ask skos.
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?