Efficency- Low vs. Hi?

There are so many medium and high efficiency speakers with excellent sound that I see little reason to use low efficiency speakers. Only exception to this statement is if you gotta have something like a big Soundlab electrostat or Acoustat vintage electrostats.

Sometimes high efficiency speakers have larger peaks and dips in their frequency response, and between the drivers at their crossover points, and less low bass extension.
Otherwise for low output amps and integrated amps, good high efficiency speakers are the way to go!
Daltonlanny

Audiokinesis- THanks for the reply, I wasnt aware of the bass being able to go deeper with a less eff. design, and no , I wouldnt be bothered with a larager box. A larger box design would most likely what id look at it if i ended up selling these speakers,as they seem to have a bigger warmer sound than smaller monitors.

Mahandave- Yeah, I kind of wasn't thinking when i made this amp/speaker match. I had originally planned on using this amp with a pair of Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 , which actually made a great match, but in the end i wasnt satisfied enough with the speakers so i sold them and bought the mini's. I bought the mini's unheard( i know i know) because of how impressed i was with my old pair of PSB IMage 2b's, so i figured that id like the mini's as well, and this was true to an extent. Shortly after buying the mini's i came across money troubles and wasnt able to buy a sub like i had planned, or a more powerful amp which is needed to drive these speakers.

Jeffreybehr- Ahhh, that helps me in understanding why anybody would build a non efficient speakers, thanks. And, i bought the mini's based on how much i liked the PSB sound from past experiances, thinking that low efficiency just meant I had to crank the volume more . Now i know better.

Brainwater- yes, Duke is an inspiration to us all and a hero to millions.

Mechans- Synergy. This was also something i wasnt aware of untill AFTER poor mismatching proved to be disastrous. And im guessing that the impendance dips is mostly the problem here, not just the low sensitivity. From what i remember my speakers have a pretty low dip in the lower midrange.

Jeff_jones- Are you recommending tubes ?

Elgordo- Actually, ive had some problems with resonance from the standmounts in the image series ( image 2b) that caused me to stop listening and take them in for a refund. I cant imagine how bad the alpha series would be in this regard *shrugs*. I appreciate your recommendation, though. And its not about playing loud, hell i cant stand turning my cambridge up 1/4 of the way because of how bad it sounds. I just want a full sound at low levels, high spl's are of little concern. But i do agree with u that a more efficient speaker would let me get more out of my amp, instead of spending more on the amp itself.

Satch- Well, 65 watts into 4 ohm, which is pretty low considering how hungry these speakers are. Or maybe its the current thats low? hmmm...

Nkturner920- Im not going to argue with you on that one, the minis seem very hungry for power. The bad thing though, is that right now im switching my system between two different rooms, one being a 9'11" x10'6" bedroom, and the other being a 20x20 living room, and when listening to the mini's in the small room i have to listen very carefully to hear all the details. I want a speaker that will sound good in both rooms. I was also considering the Bryston... untill i saw how much they cost used. too expensive IMO to pay that much just because my speakers have low effiency.

c123666- So far, IME i agree with you. If i had the money, then buying a big juicy power amp wouldnt be that big of a deal, but for me its more logical to just get more efficient speaker design, and not worry about my amp. As far as speaker with more sensitivity go, what would be a good choice to look at? Ive always like the way my Polk computer speakers sound, so maybe looking at some of the older,more high end models would be a good idea?

I forgot to mention that my musical tastes include Iron Maiden ( probabaly my favorite band), Metallica, Green Day, No Doubt, 80's New Wave, SOME Rap, even some classical and jazz every now and then. AS you can see my musical preference is very wide, so please keep them in mind if you want to give me recommendations, thanks.

I agree about the mismatch. My view (with all its biases):

PSB Stratus Mini: described as having great bass (for size)

Cambridge Audio: UK company with the "British sound" (warm)

Not having heard either of these, I'd expect an overly warm tonal characteristic that essentially hides the midrange that may be what you've described as "shut-in."

My guess is that efficiency is not really the issue though one can make some generalizations (a dangerous idea at best). That is, that lower efficiency designs tend to be more controlled hopefully with a more neutral tonal balance while higher efficiency designs let through more of the speakers inherent characteristics which includes colorations (the peaks and such mentioned before). IMHO, higher efficiency designs have a more immediate quality / quick response that provides a sense of openess (certainly not "shut in").

My inclination is to get the warmth from tubes rather than solid state components designed to sound warm and match them with high efficiency speakers that give immediacy and openess. It's just one approach. There are many others. Thinking through what direction you'd like to go with help from others at stereo shops might be useful.

Your taste is pretty bass-heavy. Grinding, crunching, woofer-throwing music isn't generally regarded as the stuff hi-eff is made for. Inexpensive, hi-eff, big bass? Hmmm. . .gonna have to think about that one.

For that musical taste, I'm thinking a used 150-watt+ amp. I don't think your amp is gonna push the power you need with any speaker. Just one opinion.