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Relate sensitivity/impedance to speaker efficiency

Can you help me relate speaker sensitivity and impedance to how efficient speakers are relative to one another?

What I mean is, given 2 speakers with the same or similar sensitivity (say 89 or 90), if one has a nominal impedance of 4 and another has a nominal impedance of 6, would the higher impedance speaker be easier to drive? Would the higher impedance speaker perhaps offer more flexibility in amplification (perhaps allowing the use of tubes?

What matters more for ease of amplification - a speaker with higher sensitivity or a speaker with a higher nominal impedance? (i.e. given similar nominal impedance, going from a speaker with a sensitivity of 87/88 to one with a sensitivity of 90/91; or given a similar sensitivity, going from a speaker with a nominal impedance of 4 to one with a nominal impedance of 6 or 8?)

I realize the answer to these questions is probably more complex, but are there some general rules to use as guidelines before actually trying the speakers out?
nnck

Showing 1 response by auxetophone

auxetophone
114 posts
 
It does seem to be "common knowledge" that 10 db sounds twice as loud.
However, what does that mean? Try listening to some music at a normal volume. Note the setting (this assumes you have a db scale to refer to).
then close your eyes, press and hold the Volume Up button until the sound is twice as loud to you. Then open your eyes & see how many db it took. It sure isn't 10 db for me.
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