efficency of a speaker?

[The Doc]

Ive read few topics where people will say "those speakers might work well in that sysytem depending on their effiency" and i was wondering what that means.

 

[zumbo]

Look it up.

http://www.rane.com/par-a.html

My speaker specs.
Impedance: 4 Ohms
Frequency Response: 33Hz - 32kHz
Sensitivity: 87dB
Power Range: 110 - 180 Watts
Crossover Frequency: 2.5kHz
Dimensions: (HxWxD) 37.4"x 8.9"x 12"

They have an effiency of 87dB @ 1w 1m. A speaker wit 95dB would be much louder with only 1watt of power. In other words, a speaker with a higher sensitivity will perform better with a low to mid-powered receiver. While mine, perform better with seperates or a high-end receiver. And, a speaker lower than 8ohm can put a strain on low-fi to mid-fi receivers.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Ive read few topics where people will say "those speakers might work well in that sysytem depending on their effiency" and i was wondering what that means.

Better look for speaker 'sensitivity' at the link Zumbo provided

 

[tbewick]

I don't think efficiency and sensitivity are the same. You could have two speakers, both with the same sensitivity, but one having better bass response. The one with the greater bass response would be the more efficient. Therefore larger speakers are usually more efficient than smaller ones.

Speakers that are more difficult to drive for the amplifier are sometimes described as being less efficient. Speakers of lower impedance are more difficult for the amplifier to drive. I'm not sure how speaker impedance and efficiency are related.

It's rather confusing the statement - "those speakers might work well in that sysytem depending on their effiency". The easiest way to know whether an amplifier is suitable for a pair of speakers is to compare the power ratings. It's better if the amplifier is more powerful than the power rating of the speaker rather than the other way round.

 

[j_garcia]

Efficiency is not normally associated with speaker measurements, at least at the consumer level for comparison. Sensitivity is the correct term and they are not interchangable.

 

[annunaki]

J_Garcia is correct. Eficency and Sensitivity are NOT the same and should not be used interchangably.

Efficency represents how well an individual driver converts input power into acoustical output and/or motion. I.E. Electrical energy into Acoustical energy. This is usually expressed as a percentage such as .035% n/o. What this means is that the speaker converts only .035% of each watt into actual output the rest is wasted in heat.

Sensitivity represents how loud a given speaker system (woofer, tweeter, cabinet) will get with 1 watt or 2.83 volts measured from 1 meter. This is usually expressed like the following: 92db with 1w/1m (pink noise) or 92db with 2.83V/1m (pink noise). This specification can denote whether or not a large amplifier may be necessary. However, other factors can come into play, such as room size. Be wary of the 2.83V/1m spec. as it can be misleading with speakers of an impedance lower than 8 ohms.

 

[zumbo]

O.K, O.K. But I bet The Doc meant Sensitivity. Or not.

 

[markw]

Boy oh boy. Some prople can get really efficient here.

...or should I say sensitive.

I can see where theconfusion might arise where "seneitivity" would be applied to a single driver and "efficiency" to the overall system (drivers, crossover, box, etc...) but I think to get too bogged down in semantics serves no real puropse here.

What's important is how loud a system plays given a certain input and either term can work interchangably.

 

[j_garcia]

I understand what you're saying, that we all knew what he meant when asking. The two definitely do not mean the same thing though. As noted by Annunaki, they refer to related, but very different, measurements and should not be used in lieu of one another. A manufacturer will never spec "efficiency" of a speaker, if for no other reason than the fact that it isn't something that a consumer can use to compare one speaker to another.