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

Measurements from a reputable source always help. Most makers do not overdo the specifications for fear of either confusing people or scaring them off. It’s just the way it is.

Again it’s a different ballgame these days for those willing to use Class D amps. Freedom of choice rules. That and reliable measurements. The more the merrier. I’ve read of some supposedly easy to drive speakers that turned out not to be. A good rule is the smaller and more bass extended the less easy they are likely to be. Fritz speakers are the ones I know of that go to great extremes to provide an easy load but they are not very “efficient”.

In the literature for his Eminent Technology LFT-8 loudspeaker, designer Bruce Thigpen states he can make his LFT driver any impedance he wants, and chose 11 ohms (when implemented in his LFT-8 loudspeaker, the complete speaker---with dynamic woofer---becomes an 8 ohm load). That’s why the LFT-8 is a better choice for tube amp lovers than Maggies (at least in terms of the issue of impedance). Maggies are a 3-4 ohm loudspeaker, not good for most tube amps (the Music Reference RM-200 being a notable exception). I cite Maggies and the LFT-8 together as both are planar-magnetic loudspeakers.

However, both the ET LFT-8 and Maggies are very low in sensitivity. The older Maggies (.6 series) could be bi-amped, a good way to address low sensitivity: use a brute force amp on the woofer, a refined one on the midrange and high frequency drivers. .7-series Maggies can not be bi-amp, at least not without internal surgery (the crossovers are series, unlike the parallel used in the .6-series). The LFT-8 can easily be bi-amped (it comes fitted with separate woofer and LFT panel binding posts).

@erik_squires You are probably 100% correct. Clearly we like gear so this will continue. Maggies are the one hard to drive speaker that I make exception for.

I believe it all depends on what the listener wants and is looking for. I have not found an amp that cannot drive my Lascalas, but the quality and characteristics of each amp leaves me to prefer one over the other. I had AR9s, DQ10s, Kappa 9s, Gale 401s, panels, and many other hard to drive speakers. I had many an amp that could drive them without clipping, but they all failed ( the speakers ) in the dynamics department. Like I said, it is up to the listener to select what suits him / her best. Always, MrD.

To reject hard to drive speakers would be to reject many a great sounding speaker. Some speakers that appear hard to drive from a quick glance at basic specs, turns out they are easier to drive than first thought. All depends on where the dips in impedance exist, among other parameters/measurements take the JBL 4309’s for instance....they look to be a difficult load @ 4 ohms and 87 db...however , in real world listening conditions, they are seemingly a pretty easy speaker to drive, based on most positive reviews I’ve read about them.