Recommendations for high efficiency speakers

[tkam]

Not exactly efficient but these would be great.

[recstar24]

Not exactly efficient but these would be great.

Hell yeah they would, but no way I can power up ribbons with my 3 watts.

Coincident Speaker Technology Loudspeaker Page

Coincident seems to be the only "hi end" speaker company that is able to make a multi driver design that is very effiecient and SET tube friendly with relative high impedance. The super victory, though expensive, is listed as a 10 ohm speaker, nice and easy for a SET to drive - the cicadas were 12 ohms I think so SET's had a nice easy job driving them and is a big part of their sound and fullness. It can't be that hard to make a speaker that you can pump a couple of watts into or many more. It almost seems like the best speakers require heroic amplification, and I am not even looking for that, just something that plays music in my decent room that I don't have to fuss with, and will play with enough volume to get the air moving. But it seems like the only options are single drivers, and I've already went down that route, so we will see.

[tkam]

Legacy Audio stuff is also usually very efficient.

[Torpedo]

The Zu Druids along with some Audio Note models are quite sensitive for not being horn designs, but any of them would be way more expensive than your budget even used.

I haven't any direct reliable reference of the sound of these but for a bit more of your budget they could be an interesting "experiment".

Rgrds

[iceman94]

ok -=recstarania=-

On a more serious note, Music Reference does a passive EQ to help boost the low end on single driver speakers. Even though they're listed as packaged with their amps/preamps, I'm sure you could get a custom box done if that interests you. They also have a simple Fostex bookshelf for relatively cheap. I've never heard any of it, but its out there to look at.

http://www.ramlabs-musicreference.com/

[Hopstretch]

Hell yeah they would, but no way I can power up ribbons with my 3 watts.

Coincident Speaker Technology Loudspeaker Page

Coincident seems to be the only "hi end" speaker company that is able to make a multi driver design that is very effiecient and SET tube friendly with relative high impedance.

That page makes me wish I had a whole lot more money.

I haven't any direct reliable reference of the sound of these but for a bit more of your budget they could be an interesting "experiment".

Doesn't Boomana have a pair of those?

[Torpedo]

On a more serious note, Music Reference does a passive EQ to help boost the low end on single driver speakers. Even though they're listed as packaged with their amps/preamps, I'm sure you could get a custom box done if that interests you. They also have a simple Fostex bookshelf for relatively cheap. I've never heard any of it, but its out there to look at.

Ram Labs Home Page

That sounds to me like but considering I haven't tried it, who knows...

And yes, I think Boomana has the Cain&Cain listed on her system.

[n_maher]

Doesn't Boomana have a pair of those?

Yup, and I'd swear I already mentioned Cain and Cain in this thread, or did I mean to but decide not to?

[iceman94]

That sounds to me like but considering I haven't tried it, who knows..

[Torpedo]

^ My comment was for the passive EQ device, not for their speakers. A single driver has physical limitations which prevent it to deliver low frequencies. Increasing them by EQing is IMHO a no-no situation which most likely will cause the driver to severely distort and screw up the rest of its performance.

Rgrds

[iceman94]

There are some comments on the EQ over in MR's circle on Audiocircle. In any case, it's just something to think about. I'm only pointing out interesting stuff I saw, again, I have no experience with it.

[grawk]

The selah line arrays seem pretty efficient and have fairly high impedance. They're somewhat pricey tho...

[luvdunhill]

^ My comment was for the passive EQ device, not for their speakers. A single driver has physical limitations which prevent it to deliver low frequencies. Increasing them by EQing is IMHO a no-no situation which most likely will cause the driver to severely distort and screw up the rest of its performance.

Rgrds

what about driver compensation networks for open baffles?

[aerius]

Coincident seems to be the only "hi end" speaker company that is able to make a multi driver design that is very effiecient and SET tube friendly with relative high impedance. The super victory, though expensive, is listed as a 10 ohm speaker, nice and easy for a SET to drive - the cicadas were 12 ohms I think so SET's had a nice easy job driving them and is a big part of their sound and fullness.

I've heard most of the Coincident line and dropped in for a visit to their factory. They may claim 2A3 amps are enough but realistically speaking they need a 300B or more. Note that the Super Victory is only rated at 92.5dB/1W, not much better than a typical speaker.

It can't be that hard to make a speaker that you can pump a couple of watts into or many more. It almost seems like the best speakers require heroic amplification, and I am not even looking for that, just something that plays music in my decent room that I don't have to fuss with, and will play with enough volume to get the air moving. But it seems like the only options are single drivers, and I've already went down that route, so we will see.

Because of the engineering trade-offs it involves, it basically works out like this for speakers: Good, Cheap, Efficient. Pick 2.

There's ways to do it but it involves using pro-audio drivers such as the ones from Beyma (Fab Audio does this) or 18sound, those drivers are damn expensive, but they're efficient and can handle a crapload of power.

[tkam]

Tyler Acoustic - Pro Dynamics

You *might* be able to find some of these used close to your price range. They are extremely efficient though.

[n_maher]

Why do I see Ryan's budget expanding?

[tkam]

Cause it kinda has to

[n_maher]

I know.

[tkam]

[iceman94]

If we're talking about expanding budgets, the Cain Wall of Sounds (designed by Gordon Rankin of Wavelength Audio) look really interesting. Supposedly do bass for a single driver, but that's the designer's claim. There's a used listing here that probably isn't still available, but what the heck.

Hornshoppe Horns fall in the budget...

Edit: both suggestions are probably worthless vs. already having the Cicadas...

[AudioDwebe]

Hey Ryan,

You'll probably be better off asking this question at audioasylum, under the "High Efficiency Speaker Asylum" subgroup.

Good luck.

[AudioDwebe]

yes, because none of us knows anything about speakers.

If you took it that way, it wasn't my intent. Looking for speakers that run on 3 watts of power is difficult, at best, and probably somewhat more expensive than the dollar amount indicated.

I wracked my brains for a while and couldn't really think of any, then did a quick search, and still, not much luck. I then went to the other site and there's group specifically for high efficiency speakers. Chances are, they might be helpful, also.

So I pointed him in that direction.

Thought it was the Boy Scout thing to do.

[JBLoudG20]

If you took it that way, it wasn't my intent. Looking for speakers that run on 3 watts of power is difficult, at best, and probably somewhat more expensive than the dollar amount indicated.

I wracked my brains for a while and couldn't really think of any, then did a quick search, and still, not much luck. I then went to the other site and there's group specifically for high efficiency speakers. Chances are, they might be helpful, also.

So I pointed him in that direction.

Thought it was the Boy Scout thing to do.

Jacob and I are Eagle Scouts.

[recstar24]

Why do I see Ryan's budget expanding?

...wait a minute...I was wondering why my wallet was starting to cry:palm:

[JBLoudG20]

bronze palm. order of the arrow. philmont death squad.

Represent.

It's kinda scary how alike we are in that regard.