We should reject hard-to-drive speakers more often


Sorry I know this is a bit of a rant, but come on people!!

Too many audiophiles find speakers which are hard to drive and... stick with them!

We need to reject hard-to-drive speakers as being Hi-Fi. Too many of us want our speakers to be as demanding as we are with a glass of wine. "Oh, this speaker sounds great with any amplifier, but this one needs amps that weigh more than my car, so these speakers MUST sound better..."

Speakers which may be discerning of amplifier current delivery are not necessarily any good at all at playing actual music. 

That is all.

erik_squires

Showing 1 response by xenolith

That does indeed read like a good bet Ralph.  

Don't know how to explain it; driving our North Creek crossovered B&W Matrix 801 S2 speakers (87dB sensitivity, nominal 6 Ohm with benign phase angles and amplitudes) with only our 100 watt monoblocks (2x6BL7 + 4xKT77) sounds both better...and louder!...than driving the woofers with a Jon Soderberg modified Threshold Stasis 2 (~225 watt/ch.) and the tube amps driving the midrange and tweeters. 

I chalk it up to coherence tricking my brain into thinking it's louder...are there decibel meter apps for smart phones?  No need for responses to that...Google here I come.