I could probably find this out with a little research, but I'm too lazy. Anybody know what the tradeoff is with a high sensitivity speaker? Why do some manufacturers make such low sensitivity speakers? Is it just so we have to buy huge amps?!
Karls, just saw your last comment. Good point. It is the "suspension compliance" along with the "acoustic compliance" that results in the lower resonance of the system. I think we've got it figured out!
Perhaps my explaination was not clear. It is not the driver response, but rather the crossover that makes the efficiency (thus sensitivity) change. Gs556 analogy is really excelent and as to how it applies to speakers, it's back to what I said in the beginning. Lower frequencies require more movement of air to achieve the same SPL, thus they are the "heavier bottles". Great analogy Gs5556.
In response to bass: a stiffer cone (woofer) is required to produce a 'tight' bass. a cone that is less stiff will deform, causing muddy, poorly reproduced bass. the tradeoff here is that the stiffer cone requires more power (is less efficient).
Karls, I'm no expert and you seem to have a much better understanding of these things than I do. However, it would appear to me that horns don't see more air in fact I would think they see less air. I'm guessing that the horn compresses the moving air so that there is less lossy disipation and therefore better efficiency.
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