Speaker power

[zepaholic]

I often hear people talking about power hungry speakers for there amp. What exactly are they talking about? What numbers are they looking at? I have Paradigm Studio 40's and cc470 would these be "power hungry"?

 

[markw]

you would look at the spec called "sensitivity".

This is a rough indicator of how loud a speaker will play given a set power level. The higher the number, the louder it will play.

Given the same power, a speaker rated at a sensitivity of 93 db will play louder than one rated 88 db.

 

[Rickster71]

This is a rough indicator of how loud a speaker will play given a set power level. The higher the number, the louder it will play.

Given the same power, a speaker rated at a sensitivity of 93 db will play louder than one rated 88 db.

Agreed; that coupled with a 4-ohm speaker would certainly do it.

 

[3db]

To summersize what markw and rickster were saying,

A power hungry speaker is one whose nominal impedance is low, around 4ohms nominal and whose sensitivity is low. I wonder if 87db is considered as starting low sensitivity.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

My speakers are 89dB and 8 Ohm nominal, but 4 Ohm throughout most of their range. My amp is rated 20 watts/ch at 4 Ohms, and is plenty powerful enough in my 10' X 20' room.

 

[mtrycrafts]

To summersize what markw and rickster were saying,

A power hungry speaker is one whose nominal impedance is low, around 4ohms nominal and whose sensitivity is low. I wonder if 87db is considered as starting low sensitivity.

Well, hard to say since published sensitivity usually refers to anechoic conditions. In room, you can add 3-4 dB spl.

But, even at 87, 100 watts will get them to 107dB at 1m for an 8 ohm and, depending how the 4 ohm is rated as some rate them with 2 watts, 2.83V it will get there pretty high. So, I am not sure where the 'power hungry' label comes from other than urban legends.