Do certain speakers take more to push?

[hrtbeat2]

I've noticed the setup before was B&W DM 302(left/right) and Infinity Primus center. Now I have the DM302's with CC3 B&W center and I noticed I need to turn up the volume plus DB more to hear what I was hearing with Infinity? Is this a receiver problem cause it changed all my speakers to THX(80HZ). My receiver is an ONKYO 702 THX 100 WPC.

 

[JohnA]

There are several factors....

Involved with what it takes to drive a speaker

1) is the Impedance (Ohm's) of a speaker...the lower the Ohm's, say a 4Ohm speakers on an amp...the amp will have an easier time driving that load then an 8Ohm speaker

2) is the efficiency (SPL) of the drivers themselves....it will take less power to drive a high efficiency driver say of 94db compared to a lower efficiency of 82db...it is not that a speaker is better then another but it means that a low efficiency speaker will take more power.

Does that help?

 

[markw]

What John says about efficiency is very true, but...

...this statement has me wondering...

Now I have the DM302's with CC3 B&W center and I noticed I need to turn up the volume plus DB more to hear what I was hearing with Infinity?

Normally, it's preferable to have the front three speakers of tha same brand/line in oder to maintain tonal accuracy along the front channels. Can I assume that this new center is a timber matched unit designed for these mains?

In any case, perhaps the old speaker placed more emphasis on certain frequencies than the new speaker does? Maybe you are used to that old, mismatched sound and now that the center matches the mains, it sounds "funny"?

In any case, different speakers sound different and John's efficiency statement is spot on.

 

[JohnA]

Correct as well

Mark is also correct, you had mismatched the center with the front speakers which would cause a listening "problem" when you got the new one. Your ears are not "trained" to the new speaker... also make sure you have it wired right + to + and - to -

 

[hrtbeat2]

You hit the nail on the head (mismatch) I never looked at it that way. Thanks Dan