While making consumers spend more for power.
Are speakers typically more efficient now? Not all of them of course, but in the general market?
Most are worse. Even a lot of modern tower speakers will top out at 89dB @2.83v.
If you want a lot of output and dynamic range, your options are pretty much limited to Klipsch on the consumer side, or diy/pro audio speakers. I’m sure some other manufacturers may have more efficient speakers, but they’re an exception rather than the norm.
I often have read that receiver manufacturers are trading power for features. Not exactly sure how this plays out. But, it does certainly seem like that today when compared to years past. That is, cut back in power while keeping up with the latest features. Guess trad-offs have to take place somewhere, no?
Cheers,
Phil
It’s been an even bigger problem with Atmos. Both Denon and Marantz AVRs still use Audyssey, which requires a decent amount of processing in the first place, tack Atmos and DTS: X onto that and you’re really asking a lot from it.
With Atmos and 9-11 amplifier channels, we also start running into hardware limitations and even consumer power outlet limitations.
With 9-11 channels at 100wpc, that’s between 900-1100w of output if all channels were blasting away. If we take a class A/B amp, which is about 60% efficiency, we’d need between 1500-2000w from the outlet to sustain a continuous 100w output into all channels. Not going to happen, even if the power supply and heat sinking could handle it.
People are not going to want to spend more and more each time an avr gets an upgrade, so cost has to be cut somewhere.
What I could do without is most of the useless streaming features. They usually are glitchy anyways and I’m willing to bet most of us have a smart tv or streaming box that can handle those tasks much better.
I was just looking at some of the power specs on some of the Onkyo AVR's over at Acc4less. Some are noted to play at 4 Ohms and others not so much. Find that a bit surprising. Looks like Onkyo is cutting corners on their AVR's as well. At the same time, the Onkyo's do seem to offer a lot of features. Thus, I think they are the perfect example on current trends.
As far a speaker sensitivity goes, it looks like to me that speakers today are not near as sensitive. But, I could be wrong. I know both my former Dentons and/or the 220's were NOT near as sensitive as some of the other speakers that I have owned in the past. Klipsch, of course, is some of the highest rated sensitive speakers that I know of.
Cheers,
Phil
A majority of modern speaker designs are built with small, slim form factor in mind while still achieving decent bass output. Efficiency takes the back burner. The problem with this is that simply shoving more power at inefficient speakers only serves to increase distortion past a certain point. If a speaker only manages 85dB at 1w or even 87dB, even when placed into a moderately sized room under 3000 cu ft they will fail to reach realistic spl levels before reaching electrical or mechanical limits. Especially with movies, where dynamic range is often 30-40dB.
Klipsch is definitely a leader in consumer gear when it comes to efficiency. While many will note their anechoic sensitivity is lower than their rated sensitivity (they add 4dB to account for room gain), even their smaller bookshelf speakers measure in the high 80s, and their larger towers, such as the 280f, easily hit mid to high 90s, whereas a good majority of towers on the market do good just to hit the high 80s or barely break 90.
I guess it all comes down to what your goals are and how much output you need. If you’re trying to achieve reference levels in a medium to large room, your options are limited to Klipsch, diy designs like the SEOS speakers, or pro gear.
I look at it this way, an increase in sensitivity of 3dB is the same as doubling the amplifier power. With an efficient enough speaker, any typical 100w avr will do. Going from a speaker with a sensitivity of 89dB to 96dB is pretty much the same as going from a 100w amp to a 400w amp. The difference is that it’s extremely unlikely the less efficient speaker can even survive 400w of continuous power, I wouldn’t be surprised if many speakers started distorting badly at 50-100w, regardless of their rating.
