We should reject hard-to-drive speakers more often


Sorry I know this is a bit of a rant, but come on people!!

Too many audiophiles find speakers which are hard to drive and... stick with them!

We need to reject hard-to-drive speakers as being Hi-Fi. Too many of us want our speakers to be as demanding as we are with a glass of wine. "Oh, this speaker sounds great with any amplifier, but this one needs amps that weigh more than my car, so these speakers MUST sound better..."

Speakers which may be discerning of amplifier current delivery are not necessarily any good at all at playing actual music. 

That is all.

erik_squires

Damn @ericsch, again! I too got a C-26, along with the MC2100, which was the version of the 2105 without meters. $499 vs. $649, iirc. $150 doesn’t sound like much now, but back then I guess it was! From there is was onward and upward: an ARC SP-3 and D-51 and D-75 amps, with Maggie Tympani’s. By 1972 Sound Systems was no longer pushing SAE and Infinity, but rather the hipper ARC and Magneplanars.

Yeah, San Francisco was (is?) a great town for seeing live music (but then so are L.A., NYC, and Austin). I saw the first appearances of Cream, Hendrix, and Jeff Beck, plus all the old guys Bill Graham booked into his venues, like Albert King.

With my musical tastes I kinda wished my Dad had stayed at Lockeed Aircraft in Van Nuys (he transferred to Lockheed Missiles & Space in Sunnyvale)---I then coulda seen Buffalo Springfield, Love, and all the other SoCal groups/bands emerging at the same time the hippie bands were up North. I saw The Dead and Airplane in ’67, but they’re not really my kinda thing.

meh.

Some audiophiles are "amp first" seekers, others are "speaker first" seekers.

If you are an "amp first" audiophile and in love with lower powered amps, that will limit your choices.

If you are "speaker first" then your choices are mostly wide open for speakers.  You get the speaker you like, choose the amp that will drive them.

My speakers are highly inefficient, but very easy to drive with Sunfire amp. Will that work for Hifi?

The market is pretty efficient at selecting products folks buy or don’t.  How would you propose increasing the rejection rate of hard to drive speakers?

Isn’t this a hobby for enjoying and can anyone else really judge the best speakers for someone else?