[roscoe65]

Well, how do headphones work then? I'm pretty sure good speakers of any size are fine at low volume.

"low volume"

I think it would be helpful to visit this.  Asserting that headphones use tiny drivers playing at low volumes is deceiving.

One watt per channel playing into a pair of 90dB speakers will produce an SPL of 87dB at a the listener's ears two meters away.  An 8 watt 300B amp playing into a 100dB pair of speakers will yield 106dB at that same listening position.  By comparison, properly-driven high end headphones will produce levels of up to 140dB 2 inches from your eardrum.  It would require 1,000 watts into that same pair of 100dB speakers to produce this SPL.

Where these differ, however, is in impact.  Headphones are producing sound only at your ears while loudspeakers are producing pressure waves that are felt on your skin and the seat of your pants.  headphones simply cannot produce the visceral impact that gives live (and well-reproduced) music its energy.

[roscoe65]

I agree wholeheartedly with roscoe65. I also have heard some of the big rigs that roscoe65 stated (Altecs and JBL) and no low- efficiency HiFi speaker can come close. I also heard midsized EV's that were amazing turned way up.

I design my speakers as High Efficiency single drivers and single driver based. They are made primarily for domestic settings and not quite as large, but more attuned to the music and very fast compared to low efficiency HIFi speakers. With my Speed12's I will be pushing the envelope though.

Many thanks for the post roscoe65,
Louis

Louis, are you putting out a 12" driver?

[RDavidson]

Well, how do headphones work then? I'm pretty sure good speakers of any size are fine at low volume.

Headphones, though indeed are small speakers, take the room and largely the power and efficiency pieces out of the equation that home speakers deal with (in general). I know you know this.
We're not saying that it isn't possible for all (properly designed) speaker types and speaker sizes to sound good at low volume. It all comes down to listening space, power requirements, and listening distance......not accounting for things like DSP and other types of room/sound equalization which can profoundly affect all the above.
We all have different listening spaces and listening distances and volume level preferences, and thus we'll have varying power requirements and speaker requirements. Choosing the right speaker per the above, can be more complex than many realize.

[G Georgopoulos]

"low volume"


Where these differ, however, is in impact.  Headphones are producing sound only at your ears while loudspeakers are producing pressure waves that are felt on your skin and the seat of your pants.  headphones simply cannot produce the visceral impact that gives live (and well-reproduced) music its energy.

bingo!!...

We all have different listening spaces and listening distances and volume level preferences, and thus we'll have varying power requirements and speaker requirements. Choosing the right speaker per the above, can be more complex than many realize.

power requirement can vary by the volume control...

[Folsom]

The feedback system in an amplifier will determine probably as much as half of the overall ability for speakers to be good at low volumes. A speaker without a crossover will aid the amplifiers ability much more favorably. There's a lot with the drivers themselves that need to be capable, but much of that ability would be portrayed at louder volumes on a subtle level.

I was just joking, partially, that headphone are so tiny but do so much without "volume" (power) of significance so obviously speakers can too.

[RDavidson]

I thought you were being a bit facetious....which is why I said "I know you know this."

[Canada Rob]

The amplifier definitely plays a part in how well a speaker performs at low volume.  My finding is that a SET with it's low damping factor and zero negative feedback does a great job in the low level dynamics department, but the connected speaker still has to be up to the task.