Gear Lust: Small Watts, Big Sound!

"What the world needs is a good 5W amp" - Paul Klipsch (c 1950)

The Klipschorn - the horn speaker that put Klipsch on the
map.  It's secret?  You put it in the corner and the room
becomes part of the speaker!

These days a typical system put together by an audiophile usually involves 60-600W per channel, and speakers that have a 4-6 Ohm minimum load with a sensitivity of 87dB from 1w at 1m.  Such sensitivity is considered "average" - but rewind about 50 years, and it is anything but average, since in the age of tubes, 60W per channel, considered by many to be a minimal output in the world of solid state is a reasonably large tube amplifier.  A modern "average" speaker would be a "pig" by those standards.

Tannoy Westminster SE's -- 99dB efficient, but you can see
from this picture, they are not small at ALL.  Size = Efficiency

But the main push to lower efficiency speakers and bigger power was due to the blinking SIZE of the ones that could be driven from a small amount of watts.  Once a ton of watts was available inexpensively, you can make fewer compromises to accommodate inefficient speakers (higher performance drivers, small cabinets, lower impedances for larger excusions with smaller drivers, etc. ).  This all was a good thing for those with smaller rooms and a need for domestic tranquility.  More performance, smaller, etc.  And, truth time, our system's muscle is based upon a pair of Thiel speakers and a large power amp behind it.  Jim Thiel was famous for saying "watts is cheap" when people complained about the giant amps needed to drive his speakers.  And compared to 1950, it is easier and less complex to have large solid state amps.  We love our sound - but you have to wonder, could you get something as satisfying with fewer watts and higher efficiency?  Did we lose something in the transition?

Well a large number of audiophiles feel that somehow things lost some soul, or swear up and down that we lost some dynamic performance when efficiencies dropped.  But in any event, we think that many become curious about low power/high efficiency and go exploring.  Some never come back.

And we have to say, that we're curious, too.  So below is a list of the kinds of speakers we've been curious about:

1.  Tannoy Glenair (95dB efficiency, US$10k/pr):  With a reported 95dB efficiency, gorgeous cabinetry, a modern look, and a coincident 15" driver assembly, we'd love to hear it.  We'd bet a nice 10-20W amp is all you'd need to rock the house!

The Tannoy Glenair!  We'll take the room, too!
photo courtesy of Tannoy

2.  Spatial Hologram M2 (100dB efficiency, US$2k-$2.5k/pr):  A open panel speaker than got great press, and at about $2k for the pair, with 100dB efficiency at 4 Ohms, with "controlled directivity" which should eliminate most room acoustical effects, this has us very interested!

Beautiful Minimalism, Boxless, 100dB efficiency, Controlled dispersion
all for $2-2.5k? (photo courtesy of Spatial Audio)

3.  Klipschorn (105dB efficiency, US$9k/pr):  Klipsch has been a pioneering speaker company in the US, and despite a focus on the mass market, they still do make most of the original models.  It is also rare in that it also survived it's founder's death with it's mission and focus intact (horn-loaded speakers).  These are huge monsters, that have to be put in the corner of the room, which might just redeem them.  A truly flea watt amplifier of around 5W will reportedly make them sing, but they are not afraid of large amps either.  Initially they were used with Leak amplifiers, which were known for their clean linear power (they used pretty aggressive feedback by the way)

The Klipschorn with Paul Klipsch and Belle.  Huge speaker,
because it goes into the corner, it is redeemed ...

4.  Zu Audio Druid (101dB efficiency, US$5.2k/pr):  Zu is a love it or hate it proposition, we understand, but the previous generation of this unconventional speaker got some horn aficionados on 6Moons entranced.  Most don't get so much audiophile cred, but their design is so different, they are definitely worth a listen!  In audio shows, the company tends to play music people actually listen to, and the speakers are designed to rock ... and not require super-expensive electronics (by audiophile standards, anyway).

Zu is love it or hate it, but at 101dB efficiency, this may be hard to pass up!

5.  Klipsch Cornwall III (102dB efficiency, US$4k/pr):  A second entry from Klipsch, these are smaller, a little less efficient, and combines a conventional bass driver with a horn mid and tweeter.  While we're curious about the Klipschorn, this speaker is likely the one we'd live with.

"It's Boxy, but Nice"  The Klipsch Cornwall III.  It's bigger than the picture makes it out, in a very
non-audiophile kind of way.

You may have noticed that there are a huge number of speakers that we left out - like DeVore Fidelity, Audio Note, Teresonic, Avanteguard Acoustics and others.  Rather than make a catalog of high efficiency speakers, of which there are dozens if not hundreds, we just put together a list of a few, trying to keep things under $10-ish k and as intriguing as possible.