@rauliruegas Which other gentleman are you referring to? I don’t think anyone on this thread is totally wrong…except maybe you, lol😁.
just kidding..😎
How important is the efficiency of a speaker to you?
I went to an audio meeting recently and heard a couple of good sounding speakers. These speakers were not inexpensive and were well built. Problem is that they also require a very large ss amp upstream to drive them. Something that can push a lot of current, which pretty much rules out most low-mid ( maybe even high) powered tube amps. When I mentioned this to the person doing the demo, i was basically belittled, as he felt that the efficiency of a speaker is pretty much irrelevant ( well he would, as he is trying to sell these speakers). The speaker line is fairly well known to drop down to a very low impedance level in the bass regions. This requires an amp that is going to be $$$, as it has to not be bothered by the lowest impedances.
Personally, if I cannot make a speaker work with most tube amps on the market, or am forced to dig deeply into the pocketbook to own a huge ss amp upstream, this is a MAJOR negative to me with regards to the speaker in question ( whichever speaker that may be). So much so, that I will not entertain this design, regardless of SQ.
Your thoughts?
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@daveyf : Yes, maybe me.
@unsound " speakers designers have to choose what paramters and associated compromises combine to best meet ultimate design goals. Some if not most of the best measuring loudpseakers have lower impedances, and ergo lower sensitivity. There are a bountiful number of well designed amps that can handle such loads with minimal consequence. " In total agreement with you.
R.
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Again Speaker sensitivty alone is not an indicator of quality or sonic virtue in loudspeakers. I can think of other values that might be related to sonic virtue, such as widely varying impedance (in a passive design), high distortion, limited dispersion, inconsistent dispersion across the audio band, etc, etc. High efficiency is simply an engineering choice made, not an evolution. Brad |
@rauliruegas I think we need to be more clear as to what we are discussing when it comes to lower sensitivity. There is little question that a lot of great speakers are in the less efficient camp, meaning that they are not in the 100db/w mode, but closer to 85db/w etc., These very same speakers may drop down into the 3-4 ohm load in the bass, which might present a more challenging load to some amp designs, but like pointed out, with a sufficiently beefy power supply, will still work fine. These are not really the speakers that I am talking about here ( not sure about others), instead the designs that are on the market ( or have been on the market) that drop down to 1 ohm or less, and as such, are now presenting a very difficult load to the upstream amp. There are not too many speakers that this applies to, but you might be surprised by how many it does. Plus, many of these designs are from well known ( and respected) manufacturer’s, like the ones in my OP. |
@lonemountain While I would agree that sensitivity alone is not a indicator of quality or sonic virtue in loudspeakers, it certainly is an indicator as to what one can expect as to choosing an amp that will work well with said speakers. As such, the number and type of amps that will work is now significantly diminished, and as pointed out above by atmasphere, said amp will almost certainly NOT be working at its best. It also pretty much removes certain types of amp designs...mostly in the tubed genre. |
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