15 ohm speakers yea or nay?


I just bought Falcon speakers that are 15 ohms. I have Harbeths that are 6 ohms. Both have the same sensitivity rating of 83db. I am using both with the same tube amps.

What has me scratchin’ my head is that the Falcons are much louder with the volume set the same on my preamp.

Any opinions on why a 15 ohm speaker would be that  much different than a 6 ohm speaker with the same sensitivity specs?

THX

 

 

128x128yogiboy

@yogiboy These days sensitivity (2.83V/1 meter) is how speakers are measured. There was a time when efficiency (1 Watt/1 meter) was the spec instead- back when tubes were King.

2.83 Volts into 8 Ohms is 1 Watt. That is why the seemingly arbitrary number.

When you cut the impedance in half to 4 Ohms, 2.83 Volts is now 2 Watts (which is a 3dB increase). So the impedance makes a difference! You have one speaker that is 6 Ohms and the other is 15. If the sensitivity is the same, for each doubling of impedance the efficiency is increased. So by my calculations the 15 Ohm speakers should sound about 4.5dB louder because they are 4.5dB more efficient.

When you are talking tube amps, because they can’t double power as impedance is halved (like many solid state amps do) the efficiency spec is more important. That means you have to derive it from the sensitivity spec and the impedance of the speaker. How I arrived at my numbers above is 6 is halfway between 8 and 4 Ohms so that’s a matter of 1.5 dB instead of 3 dB (which it would be if the 6 Ohm speaker were 4 instead).

The difference between 8 and 16 Ohms is its doubled, meaning another 3dB difference. I added the 1.5 to 3 dB to get my answer. Its not quite right since the speaker is really 15 Ohms, but its close enough for government work.

 

Hi Ralph,

Thanks for the great explanation of why the 15 ohm Falcons play louder than the 6 ohm Harbeths. You are a real asset to the Audigon community!

Yogiboy

I use 16 ohm speakers because my amps like them.

Or,...you could say that I use OTL tube amps because my speakers like them.

Yogi, I just purchased a pair of Q7s what amps do you like with them? Cables ? I'm using a Belles 22a pre and 150 ref2 amp. Sounds good but room is really bad very lively. You've had so many different units what are your thoughts?

@brianportugal

I sold the Q7. I was using Quicksilver 70 watt tube amps with Audioquest cables. The Q7 is as good as any of that type of speaker. I replaced them with the larger Harbeth HL5 super plus. The Falcons are very lively forward sounding compared to my Harbeth P3esrs. BTW, after the holidays I will be selling the P3s. I hope the Falcons work out for you!