Sensitivity

[MX21]

I keep hearing about how old speakers were incredibly loud with very little watts and nowadays you need lots more power with current speakers to keep up. Often see comments like: "I used to have some (old brand) speakers and we only needed 25 watts to play a stadium...blah blah blah"

What happened between then and now? They just don't make them like they used to? Is the weakening of Earth's magnetic field making new magnets weaker? Can't get any more old-growth wood for the cabinets? Global warming affecting air density? Are we all losing our hearing? What has changed?

[Pilgrim]

All the rest of the amps got louder - so the bass amps had to do the same. Simple.

[WalterBush]

I could easily be wrong, but I think it has more to do with how a lot of manufacturers started publishing their specs.

[MX21]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

All the rest of the amps got louder - so the bass amps had to do the same. Simple.

I'm not talking about bass versus guitars. Just old speakers versus new. I keep reading about the old ones being very loud with a lot less power put in compared to now.

[fdeck]

Originally Posted by MX21

I'm not talking about bass versus guitars. Just old speakers versus new. I keep reading about the old ones being very loud with a lot less power put in compared to now.

The laws of physics haven't changed. "Small, loud, and low, pick any two."

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by MX21

old speakers versus new. I keep reading about the old ones being very loud with a lot less power put in compared to now.

Old speakers had to be more efficient (sensetive) because in the old days (sic) there weren't any hugely powerful amplifiers. Once folks figured out how to make >200 watt rms power amps, speaker manufacturers didn't have to worry about building something that would produce 100dB SPL 1w/1m, they could build something that put out 87dB SPL 1w/1m but that actually sounded good.

[mjolnir]

Maybe it's a question of tube watts vs. solid state watts.

[MX21]

Originally Posted by Hoover

Old speakers had to be more efficient (sensetive) because in the old days (sic) there weren't any hugely powerful amplifiers. Once folks figured out how to make >200 watt rms power amps, speaker manufacturers didn't have to worry about building something that would produce 100dB SPL 1w/1m, they could build something that put out 87dB SPL 1w/1m but that actually sounded good.

So you're saying the old ones were louder but didn't sound as good as what we have now? So there's a trade-off between sounding good and sounding loud and since we have the amp power, we choose to sound good?

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by MX21

So you're saying the old ones were louder but didn't sound as good as what we have now? So there's a trade-off between sounding good and sounding loud and since we have the amp power, we choose to sound good?

Nope, that's not what he's saying. You're adding a value judgment.

He said - and it's a good point - that the speakers in older amps were more efficient because less power was available to drive them. That DOES allow more volume per watt of amp power.

From stereos.about.com: "...a speaker with a 88 dB efficiency rating will require ten times more power than a speaker with a 98 dB efficiency rating to play at the same level. If you're starting with a 100 watt/channel receiver, you would need 1000 watts of power output to double the perceived volume level."

You can get away with a terribly inefficient speaker when you have so many amps today with 400+ watts of power. In the 60's, amps with that power rating didn't exist.

Whether they sound GOOD or not is your judgment. I suggest that you don't try to make generalizations about "good", because that's an individual's subjective decision to make.

If you think old amps sound good and today's amps sound crappy, it's OK to say so...just don't expect others to agree.