Montreal Audio Show - anyone hear the FR30’s?

Perhaps it is not that easy to build a high efficiency speaker without incurring some other compromises or added cost.  A lot of the efficiency loss is in the complex networks that are used in some crossovers.  But, all those added elements are there for a purpose--smoothing out response, accounting for anomalies around the crossover point, accounting for baffle-step loss and diffraction, accounting for floor bounce interference, etc.  I once saw an advertisement for a YG Acoustic two-way that showed the crossover and it blew my mind--way more than a dozen capacitors, something like eight inductors, and I don't know how many resistors; their is a lot of power being burned off there (but, I sort of like the sound of that YG speaker).

From the speaker builder's perspective, it is easier to disregard efficiency when balancing other considerations because that is someone else's problem.  It is up to the amplifier manufacturers to supply the goods that can play these speakers.

I agree with you, by the way, but, I personally want WAY more than 90 db/w efficiency.  Something closer to 100 and 7-16 ohm nominal impedance would be nice for the kinds of amps I own.

And when one of the speaker manufacturer’s main businesses is higher power amplifiers, even less incentive, perhaps even negative incentive

Why?

Of course there is several reasons. 

One big reason is looks and with that WAF.

As a designer it starts here:

Hoffman’s Iron Laws of Speaker Building

1) Bass Extension

2) Efficiency

3) Small Enclosure

So you can choose two and the third is given to you.

If you want more extended Bass Extension and high efficiency (sensitivity) then you will have that but you will not get that in a small enclosure!

So you need a big ugly speaker enclosure and the market is not going for that. Sorry.

If you go for high efficiency (sensitivity) and a small enclosure then the bass extension is gone. That is not HiFi if you don't can hear full range.

But there is manufacturers that makes higher sensitivity and higher ohm speakers. So it is just to look elsewhere.

Here is two that heard FR30

please check out the Canadians Tri-Art Audio while you’re there.

you’ll be glad you did. 👍