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

 

IMO, electrostatic speakers are worth it. Very worth it. Like, never imagined recorded music could sound like this, worth it. ...

...

Good news is that class D amps are improving quickly. I’m auditioning a D-Sonic M3a-1200s, based on the Pascal LPro2. Jury still out. ..

 

This is an interesting topic I hope to revisit again in a few more years. My local dealer still in business after 53 years is a Soundlab dealer. He’s an all-tube guy. No longer carries any SS amps. Have heard my larger tube amps on super large Soundlabs there. Not sure it was enough amplification, hard to say. Always wondered how some of the larger Soundless would sound paired with highly developed Class-D AGD or Purify based amps. Following closely next few years as this unfolds a little more.

Not yet, but If I ever pick up a pair of really great Class-D monos down the road, I'm gonna bring them to the local shop and see if he'll give it a go on the electrostats. 

If you buy stuff that doesn’t work well together, guess who’s fault it is ?

If a speaker is rated at 4 ohms but is actually a 2 Ohm speaker that is not the buyer's fault.

My point isn't about whose fault anything is. It's about what  we venerate.  "ooooooh, a half ohm speaker which needs a super amp... I must be mas macho if I get this working!"

...speakers need a warning label, like cigarettes and alcohol?

WARNING: THESE UNITS MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR POWER AMPLIFIER(S) AND YOUR BANK ACCOUNT!

Would this stop anyone?

Not likely....

yes Erik, the manufacturer providing false information is a very different issue than knowingly buying difficult speakers and not being prepared...

I personally have. Dynaudios are hard to drive, I don't buy them anymore, even though they are very high quality. Hard to drive speakers aren't fun at low volumes.