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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?

bobbydd

Showing 1 response by optimize

optimize
164 posts
 

I want reflect on this aspect:

Using high sensitivity speakers requires a lot of attention to noise- grounding anomalies, other stuff that you would not necessarily hear through a less efficient system. 

If we consider that we have that sensitive speaker so that we are able to hear the noise floor of the system even if all is optimal and optimized.

 

Now considering also that that system is a constant and NOTHING else is changed except the speakers. Everything is the same.

 

With the sensitive speaker we have "found" and have verified that we can hear right down to the noise floor of the system. (Yeh it don't need to be enjoying at the sweet spot and nearly inaudible.

 

Now that would mean that when the softest and the most faint sound that is just breaking and is near the noise floor we will and we can hear it! We have just the whole system setup for being able to do that.

 

On the other hand if we have the exact same system and just swap out the speaker to a low sensitivity that is dead silent and no noise floor is nowhere to be found.

 

The question is where is the noise floor if you can't hear it. Are we 3 dB above the noise floor or 10 dB.. nobody really knows exactly.. but let us call it X dB.

But now there is a GAP of loudness (dB) the difference from the noise floor and up to the lowest sound we are able to hear at the sweet spot.

 

That GAP that is X dB of loudness range that the inefficient speaker has "wasted away" will give the inefficient speaker in total a lower dynamic range.

 

And if you have that sensitive speakers that you can hear the rest of the system noise floor. Then you also have a tool that you can find and swap out the component that generate most of the noise. And in that way lower the noise floor even lower so that you get even more dynamic range! 

 

But all opportunity to that optimizations is not there with the low efficiency speaker when it MASKS away the whole dB range and you can put whatever components in your system and even if they're better and have a lower noise floor and do a better job to play the softest sounds. 

Then you will not reap the benefits of that positive contribution in this area and those efforts of the component design to make it better is wasted.

 

Just my 2 Satoshi.

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