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We should reject hard-to-drive speakers more often

Sorry I know this is a bit of a rant, but come on people!!

Too many audiophiles find speakers which are hard to drive and... stick with them!

We need to reject hard-to-drive speakers as being Hi-Fi. Too many of us want our speakers to be as demanding as we are with a glass of wine. "Oh, this speaker sounds great with any amplifier, but this one needs amps that weigh more than my car, so these speakers MUST sound better..."

Speakers which may be discerning of amplifier current delivery are not necessarily any good at all at playing actual music. 

That is all.

erik_squires
kenjit
1,771 posts
 

My point was, there is no ONE speaker for all of us, let alone a perfect one. 

WRONG. Of course there is a perfect one. Why shouldn't there be? The perfect speaker is by definition one that satisfies all of us. We must stop creating imperfect speakers and start aiming for perfection. Also perfect speakers require perfect audiophiles. Some audiophiles dont WANT perfection. That is a completely different issue. I am one of the finest tuners in the industry. I have never met anybody who is as obsessed.

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johnnycamp5's avatar
johnnycamp5
124 posts
 

“I’d also like to point out that there’s a sub-thread here about high efficiency speakers which is not mine, I take no responsibility for those statements regarding efficiency vs. sound quality.”

@erik_squires  With your post headline I’m not sure how you would expect anything else here on Audiogon. We’re a subjective bunch, often ignoring objective facts about “why we should reject hard to drive speakers more often “

Perhaps “bragging rights” with cost or watts?

Nothing is more disappointing than too spend a small fortune on “hard to drive speakers” and mega watt amps only to come away disappointed or longing for something that seems missing.

So getting back to my point (or highjacking). Personally, trying to use and/or enjoy “hard to drive speakers” repeatedly has been a

“The Emporers new clothes”  thing.

 

 

 

erik_squires OP
16,726 posts
 

yes low impedance in upper registers is nothing to worry about but tuning impedance curve in the lower registers to design a speakers desired characteristic.

My experience with ESL's says that this low impedance (1/3rd of an Ohm) in the upper octave is quite noticeable and often pushes owners to beefier solid state amps.

lanx0003
1,059 posts
 

 

@atmasphere  what about large multi-driver full range speakers that are really hard to drive? They don’t get the Murphy that a smaller speaker does for low efficiency.

Thx for the comment.  You got me to think a bit while longer but it is definitely worthwhile. I think the answer to that is the so-called Hoffman’s Iron Law that someone more knowledgeable has pointed out. It states that the speaker designer could pick two parameters out of the bass extension, sensitivity, or small cabinet size in any given design, but in doing so it will compromise the third.

So extending that notion to your question, you can have efficient larger floorstander containing multiple, larger drivers in combination with cabinet designs to give great bass, small speakers with great bass and low sensitivity that I have craved for, or small highly sensitive speakers that can’t reproduce bass well.

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