Higher sensitivity - more dynamic sound?

If all I wanted was loud, forward and dynamic I’d buy a Jukebox.....Jim

That's funny!

Mike

+2 @phusis 

Sorry, that was a bit snarky and defiantly not a fair comparison of some of the very nice and efficient speakers of today and even some vintage.

Back in the early 80s, I much enjoyed my Vandersteen, 2Cs but by mid 80s, while looking for something that would make a little larger, deeper stage in my large listening area I auditioned both the big K-Hornes and the large Altec Lancing speakers. I did enjoy the big full stage they presented but decided, even for my relatively large area, were a bit much. I Auditioned and bought a pr. of Quad ESL 63s and fell in love with their deep, wide stage and their organic rendering of acoustic music and voices. Even more so, the Duetta Sigs. I Have been a fan of Electrostatics and Planers since. Some years later, because of a change in living spaces I had to revert to smaller, monitor style speakers. After moving back into a larger home with a decent sized listening room, I had a chance to pick up a pr. of the little Maggie 1.7s and like them allot. If I could find a pr. of used 3.7i within a reasonable driving distance of my area I’d pick them up, without worry of their efficiency. If my old ADCOM doesn’t do a good job at driving them, I should be able to find a fair buy on a used Bryston, Krell, Coda, etc that would.

To be fair, except for Spatial Audio (which I did like) I’ve not auditioned or entertained much, the idea of going with an efficient speaker - so my opinion of them may be a bit limited and irrelevant and my love for electrostatics and ribbons, a bit biased.....Jim

Both speakers can have the same dynamic range assuming a sufficiently powerful enough amp for the lower efficiency speaker.

@jonwolfpell This statement is false; the reasons why explained on the first page of this thread.

Assuming the definition of dynamic “range “is the difference between the softest sounds & the loudest ones a speaker is capable of without minimal distortion, then high efficiency speakers don’t necessarily have a greater range. How dynamic they sound, to me, meaning how quickly they can start & stop & thus sound more like live music in this way, is another story. High efficiency speakers w/ reasonable impedances ( not silly low w/multiple drivers connected in parallel), generally horns of some type can sound much more dynamic than low efficiency ones. I’m a believer of this & own & love my Volti Audio Rivals @ a true 98db efficiency. They can image pretty well, pretty detailed, not crazy extended at either frequency extremes but with a good input, sound more like live music than most other speakers I’ve heard at anywhere near their price range. I guess I value true dynamics over etched, hyper detailed “hi fi” sounding speakers. We all have favorites.