What is your take on high efficient speakers vs. low efficient speakers?

@charles1dad , ESLs do not necessarily require large SS amplifiers. You can also use a large tube amp like the Atma-Sphere MA 2. 

The difference between my own personal way of thinking about this is simple, There is accuracy and there is "taste." Accuracy includes the whole system including the room. I always start with accuracy and throw my taste on top at the end. Most people start with taste and never really deal with accuracy which requires choosing the right equipment for the right reasons and the hardware to measure and adjust it's performance in the room. So then why ESLs, more accurately why 8 foot dipole ESLs? They have the lowest levels of distortion within the audio band and coloration of any type of speaker. Dipole linear arrays have ideal dispersion characteristics for preventing detrimental room interaction. Linear arrays broadcast sound more efficiently which is why they are used at large rock concerts. The only serious problem that should be dealt with is dipole ESLs do not like making bass. Below 100 Hz should be sent to a driver specifically designed to make low bass and doing so decreases distortion throughout the rest of the audio band to a significant degree and increases headroom to the point where the system is capable of doing an effortless 105 dB, not that you should.

A really excellent thread!I purchased my first high efficiency speakers a year ago and will never go back.The "lit from within" observation previously mentioned is addictive.

Agreed this is an excellent thread! The reason for my love for high efficiency is still a bit of a mystery for me. I've been thinking a lot about directivity being a big factor - a better direct to reflected sound ratio than a typical lower efficiency speaker. This will make the speaker seem quieter in a given room but then the efficiency allows the apparent volume to come back up, so transients are clearer. Listening to good direct radiators of lower efficiency at close distance should provide a similar effect according to this logic, and to my ears it largely does, only that it scales down so the dynamic contrasts aren't as impressive as when the same effect occurs at greater distances. 

@grannyring I also find higher efficiency speakers sound more real and lifelike, at least to my ears. Here is a link

Pretty much the same conclusion I arrived at quite some time ago. Yet, I can respect /appreciate the different approach and opinion of @mijostyn and others. When it’s all said and done, It is what moves you the most.
 

Anyway that’s my philosophical stance with constructing a home audio system. I try to achieve as much realism within my means.

Charles

@charles1dad , Yes, realism could be the final goal. How do you get to realism? How realistic can you get? Many of us do not even think about realistic. It is viewed as an unrealistic goal. Not true at all. Given the right recording a system can sound scary realistic and I do not mean with just an acoustic guitar either. It can be done with full on rock and jazz. It can be done with equipment that is not Luxury Audio. There are also several roads that lead to Rome. Of the three systems that met my criteria for realism one was a three way dynamic system and the other two were based on very different types of ESL. Three systems out of hundreds including the ones I designed (under the wishes and pocketbook of persons usually more interested in fancy decor and artwork than music.)  Many of them were owned by audiophile friends. Some of them were mine. 

Among audiophiles there is significant variance in expectations and priorities. Someone is bound and determined to set himself up with a SET amp because he heard one he thought sounded good, in a totally different environment than his own listening room. Now he can't get the volume he would like on some recordings so he goes out and gets a set of high efficiency loudspeakers which are not capable of performing as well as the ones he had (with the right amp) but they go loud and he is happy. Then there is the confusion generated by unintentional psychological disinformation. There are people who will swear their system improved by putting their cables on elevators. All of a sudden everyone is selling cable elevators. So what is an English Major to think? While guys like my are laughing under our breath. 

Accuracy gets you in the ballpark, taste gets you to realistic, both get you evicted.