I read somewhere that the reason that the term "efficiency" has fallen into disuse and "sensitivity" has supplanted it as the preferred terminology for describing a speaker's ability to convert an electrical signal to sound, is simply because, as stated by one of the above posters, normal efficiency for dynamic loudspeakers is between 1% and 5%. Supposedly, in the 70's, many speaker manufacturers decided, for marketing reasons, that an "efficiency" rating in the low single digits would cast a negative light on their products. Even combustion engines are more efficient, by somehing like an order of magnitude. Apparently, all but a small portion of the power output from our amplifiers is irretrievably lost. Sensitivity, expressed in Decibels relative to a watt input, is a more nebulous and tricky concept for the average audio consumer to grasp, but at least carries with it a nice high number. People (Consumers) like high numbers..... except in golf. I don't know if all of this is true. It would be interesting if someone could comment on it. Interesting thread. - Jim, I think you are definitely correct. Shame on R. V.... his speakers still sound good, though!
speaker effiency
hello can someone please tell why speakers with the same effiency, mind you different in that one is 4 ohm the other 8 ohm, that one would play loader then the other.the one that is 4ohm (thiel cs1.2 )is the one that plays loader. the other is gershman x-1.also next week i am adding the sw-1 sub.it is a passive sub.it has the same effiency as the others 87 or 88.my amp is ocm 200 (100 wpc ).will it get worse (if that's the word )