Basic question about sensitivity
Obviously I am mistaken, and I am positive that this has been covered before, but I had thought that the higher the number (sensitivity) the easier the speaker was to drive. However, when I read a thread in which someone is talking about a speaker they have or are interested in, I frequently do a cursory search and a little bit of reading about it, and, for example, a while ago I read a review & specs on the Monitor Audio Gold 300 5G with a sensitivity rating of either 90 or 91 (which I would have thought at one time meant it was a pretty easy load to drive) but the recommended amp was 100 to 250 wpc.
On the other hand, I just did a search and some reading on the Harbeth P3ESR XD which has a sensitivity rating of 83 (which at one time I would have thought meant it was a tough load to drive) but they are recommending amps "from 15 wpc".
What is the number listed for a speakers sensitivity actually meaning?
@erik_squires - not disagreeing, but at least Stereophile and Hi Fi News are trying to be as informative as possible. But what the EPDR measurements of a range of speakers do tell us is that, in general, speakers are harder to drive than most manufacturers' generally used specifications tell us. So my rule of thumb is to take the nominal impedance and assume that the real impedance is lower than that.
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@yoyoyaya , I am running an ancient (going on 30 years old) pair of B&W 805s; I just took a look at the literature that came with them, and it states that the sensitivity is 87 and nominal impedance is 8 ohms. Since I have owned these speakers, I have ran them with three different tube amps, and am currently running them with one that is switchable between ultralinear and 50 wpc triode, and mostly always I have used the triode setting. I had never thought of these speakers as being particularly hard (for any of the amps I have owned) to drive; but with that typed, the largest room I have ever had them in was probably on the small side of medium, and presently, the room that they are in now is just plain SMALL. |
@yoyoyaya , thanks, that's interesting (particularly since I am kicking around the idea of upgrading). Given that my 805s are going on 30 yeras old, and taking in account for inflation and technology, how far do you think I'd need to go to make a significant upgrade? |
@OP. Just speaking to your opening post. I think it would be well worth you while listening to a pair of P3 XDs. As you will gather from some of my posts on other threads, I'm not overly enamoured of the direction B&W have gone in voicing their recent speakers - and they are getting quite expensive. You might also want to listen to a pair of M30s or Spendor Classic 2/3s if you feel you need a bit more scale and bass extension. Lastly, though they are a bit polarising, I would listen to a pair of Kef LS 50 Metas, which are outstanding value for money. The foregoing comments are based on personal experience of all of those loudspeakers and of the current B&W range. |
