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Efficient speakers with high powered ss amp?

Relative newbie here, so forgive me for the stupid question. I'm wondering if, in general, it's a mistake to mix 100 watt+ per channel amplifiers with efficient speakers. I know that low powered tube amps need efficient speakers, but do efficient speakers then necessarily perform better with less watts?

I'm looking for speakers that would be a good match for my Odyssey Khartago, and have always been under the impression that higher efficiency speakers are better than inefficient speakers. Would a 98db, 200 watt speaker be ok with the 110 watts per channel Khartago, or should I look for something less efficient.

Apologies, I tried using the search function to look this topic up, but didn't get any results, so I appreciate your thoughts and advice.
rischa
schubert
7,386 posts
 
Depends on how much gain your preamp has,often with high eff speakers you can not go farther than the very smallest
range of the volume knob mnaking it VERY hard to get an optimun volume level.
I have an odyssey amp too,the best it ever sounded is with a pair of Rega RS3 speaks that are 89dn eff.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
IME, less efficient speakers tend to sound better than very high efficient speakers.
macd
103 posts
 
Both efficient and low efficient speakers have the ability to sound excellent if set up correctly. It is likely that your amplifier will perform better with low to average efficiency speakers. The 98 dB speaker will only demand the first few watts of power from your amp which may not sound as good. The designer may have optimized that amp to perform better at much greater outputs levels. If you like the sound of HE speakers you can check them out, but be aware that there could be a chance that they would sound better with lower power (SET, low output SS Class A, etc). Dont think of it as a bad thing! Having a powerful amp increases the variety of speakers that will work for you!
macd
103 posts
 
Actually to directly answer your first question, it also depends on the amplifiers. Some high powered amps have nice sounding first watts where else some need to be driven harder. Best way to know is to hook-em up!
Ag insider logo xs@2x
islandmandan
1,260 posts
 
Yet another way to look at it is, if you have moderately efficient speakers, (93db or more)you then have the ability to use a broader range of amplifiers, from low-power SET, to high-power SS amps. I used to have a very fine pair of Dynaudio Contour 5.4's, and though they were rated at 90db, they loved lots of power to perform their best. I finally sold them, and went to the 93db speakers I'm currently using. I can drive them with as little as 10Wpc, or as much as you want to use with them.

For me, this is the way to go for more options regarding power. I like tubes now, better than any of the SS amps I have had. YMMV

Good Luck enjoy,
Dan
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