How important is the efficiency of a speaker to you?

@phusis

Nicely written! I enjoy your perspective. When you say that efficiency is not the most important aspect of performance, you and I are on the same page. I disagree that efficiency is the "preferred route" in achieving lower distortion, improved dynamics or increased bass. There are so many other avenues to these features.

I did not say that low eff. designs avoid the limitations of poor efficiency simply by adding more power. There may not be limitations of lower efficiency designs, depending on your goals. Or there could be limitations of a high efficiency design. I think the whole array of solutions are far more complex than high or low efficiency "spec" on a spec sheet. Whether something is 92dB 1w/1m in a loudspeaker gives you zero information about quality when compared to a 86dB 1w/1m spec.. You only know the designer chose to chase efficiency (probably for more than one reason). Intended application is everything..

Some lower efficiency designs can achieve lower distortion in the driver, or can extend low frequency of that driver or both. Or your lower effieciency design may improve cooling and power handling without extending voice coil length. I guess to me its like horsepower tells you zero about the performance of a car. There are so many different options available to a skilled designer that focusing only on a high efficiency design is not wise, again, depending on your goals. I favor lower distortion myself, I want to hear more of the fine details, the reverb tails, the room sound, etc. If I can have lower distortion that reveals more of that fine detail in exchange for a larger power amp, I’m in.  That's the trade off I am talking about.  And I'll stick to my guns on this one, you cannot have it all.  

Brad

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Dear @daveyf : The issue thatan amplifier working harder develops higher distortions could not be exactly as was posted.

You can read in the link that the JC 1+ gives you at full power output same distortion levels at 8ohm, 4ohm and 2ohms: 0.15%.

The other issue about is that the levl of distortions each one of us can detect it as an added colorations depends on what the brain amygdala whole audio/MUSIC information is hang on to for the life experiences of different kind of sound and different kind of SPLs.

J.Curl knows exactly how design  "  a huge ss amp upstream ".

Speaker efficiency always is important depending how you paired with the rigth amp in the rigth room and of course inside your MUSIC reproduction priorities or restrictions. 

Now and is something that you don't touched yet other than " good sounding " and you did not tell us with wich electronics ( overall ) you were listened, with which MUSIC sources and MUSIC gender and at which SPLs.

R.

Noise/distortion --> the room and the speakers trump whatever anyone’s attributing to any decent amp.

It’s like you’re having your carriage pulled by a dying horse, but you’re dead focused on greasing the wheels with some special oil secreted on a blue moon night.

@rauliruegas I cannot comment too much on the sound of the Parasounds and the speaker at this fellow’s room. I heard the combo briefly, but do remember thinking that the synergy was not there between the components.

Keeping in mind that the speakers in question drop down to around 1ohm in the bass, resulting in a speaker that very few amps can drive to anything that can bring about their best. Nonetheless, the Parasounds were not an amp that resulted in this fellow being impressed with the combo.

Keeping in mind that the speakers in question drop down to around 1ohm in the bass, resulting in a speaker that very few amps can drive to anything that can bring about their best. 

Any speaker that drops to 1 ohm was designed by a lazy low IQ individual. Such a speaker (his low IQ legacy) should be torn down and thrown in the garbage can.