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?

128x128daveyf

Showing 7 responses by ditusa

@daveyf Wrote:

 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 

The importance of speaker efficiency: The article below is from 1962 and is as relevant today as it was then. In my opinion, a high powered amplifier that can drive lower impedances will never be a proxy for a speaker's lack of true efficiency. 

Mike

 

https://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/reference/technical/efficiency.htm

 

Loudspeaker power handling vs. Efficiency. Magnetic flux modulation compression see here.😎

Mike