New column on value-oriented components

ESV1955 -- Tue, 05/23/2006 - 18:49

The new coulumn devoted to affordable high-performance components is a terrific idea. I have completed all my upgrades for awhile but such a column will be a great starting point for the long list. I will never be able to justify a 30,000 budget and in fact, have purchased much of my equipment on e-bay (Bryston, parasound, monarchy). As such, much of my equipment was purchased unheard based on reviews. In the past it seems that the reviews were of equipment less than I desired (Infinity lower lines) or far more than I could afford (Wilson, krell, etc...). You have done a good service for many of your readers. I will look forward to this column each month. Question: is a low-efficiency speaker such as the Era Design 4 a good idea for value oriented systems? It seems that too much of the budget would be consumed on amplification to drive them.

Barry Willis -- Wed, 06/21/2006 - 00:08

I'm not a fan of low-efficiency loudspeakers for exactly this reason. It takes too much amp power to bring them to life. There's no justification for designs like this any more, with so many good-sounding hign-efficiency loudspeakers now available.

Barry Willis

Chris Martens -- Wed, 06/28/2006 - 10:49

I can understand the desire to put together a system that has higher output capabilities, but I don't buy the notion that "there's no justification for design's like this (the Era Design 4) anymore..."

To my ears the Era's virtues include smooth tonal balance, a good measure of detail, natural (not exaggerated) warmth, and excellent imaging--all in a robustly built, compact mini-monitor that sells for $600/pr.

Can you get all of the Era's virtues plus higher sensitivity for the same money? Maybe. But I often see manufacturers "buying" higher sensitivity at the expense of increased coloration, poorly controlled bass, and downright funky imaging. Those aren't acceptable tradeoffs to me, which is why I think the classic mini-monitor concept is still valid.

Yes, you have to respect mini-monitor's output limits and bass restrictions, and yes, they work better in small spaces than in medium or large spaces. But within those constraints, they can deliver a lot of music for not a lot of money.

Question: What are some of the best compact (or even not-so-compact), The Perfect Vision
Senior Writer, The Absolute Sound

Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision

jack d ii -- Fri, 01/08/2010 - 16:20

Over 50 years of building my present system, my experience with low efficiency speakers is that;
1. need lots of power
2. sound disappears at lower volumes and
3. always sound as if a blanket had been tossed over the speaker unless the volume was turned up.
I suppose if you paid enough money for a low efficiency speaker you could avoid (most) # 2 and 3, but my universal experience is that it would take at least 5 figures-above 20k.

Jack D II