Speaker Efficiency


   I have been listening to my Decware 300b tube amp for a few months now. At 8 watts, I have them paired with Klipsch Forte IV at 99db efficiency, and this set up has been sounding great. This morning I connected a pair of Sonus Faber Electa Amator speakers, 6ohms at 88db of efficiency. They sound fantastic, with more weight  and depth. I understand there is a huge price difference in the two speakers, but aside from that, if I am getting 80db of volume at my chair, 8' away, what is the draw back of using lower efficiency speakers with SET amps, so long as the volume is sufficient? I did notice turn the Pre amp, the tube amp and the Roon volume towards the highest setting, it starts sounding terrible....

 

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Showing 1 response by mikelavigne

what are you gaining? and what are you losing? when you put a low powered mismatched amp to a hard to drive speaker????

how large is your room? how loud do you listen? how close do you sit? how important is space and scale and the lowest octave? how flat is the impedance curve of the speaker?

here is a very concise article "Lies, Damn Lies, and Speaker Sensitivity Specs" written by Robert Harley in the Feb 23’ Issue of Absolute Sound regarding speaker efficiency. how specs can be misleading, and how it affects amplifier<->speaker matching. it’s a good place to start this conversation......

https://www.enjoythemusic.com/The_Absolute_Sound/02_2023/editorial.htm

i’m not always the biggest Harley fan with his tendency toward hyperbole.....but in this case he nailes it. a quick read worth your time.