Entry level high sensitivity speakers?

naka

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Why there isn’t more good entry level high sensitivity speakers, around £1000?
Is there any particular reason on why the majority of manufacturers avoid high sensitivity designs?
The 90db / 6 Ohm Wharfedale Linton Heritage is a rare exemple.

P.s. - I want to use my Cayin CS-55a tube integrated, but all my current speakers are very demanding, around 84-85db / 4 Ohm.
 

Rockchild

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Why there isn’t more good entry level high sensitivity speakers, around £1000?
Is there any particular reason on why the majority of manufacturers avoid high sensitivity designs?
The 90db / 6 Ohm Wharfedale Linton Heritage is a rare exemple.

P.s. - I want to use my Cayin CS-55a tube integrated, but all my current speakers are very demanding, around 84-85db / 4 Ohm.

Speaker matching is important obviously but how big the room is and power output also have an impact on overall performance.
It didn’t take me long to find a speaker under £1000 at 91.5dB. Q Acoustics new 5040 for one

BE764B20-24C9-4C5B-9661-0007012EA8CB.png
 
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Psilonaught

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A used pair of Zu Audio would work for you maybe? Not an expert on them but I would have thought their lower models aren't super expensive
 

THOMO

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JBL Studio 590s are excellent but no longer made so you would have to find a used pair.
I used them with an Almarro 318B 12 watt SET and it drove them easily.They have a big open dynamic sound but also smooth.They need a biggish room with some space around them to sound their best.
 
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Matball

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If your room is not super big, a kt88 push pull amplifier should be able to push a pair of 85dB speakers. I now use Luxman MQ88u to push ATC SCM19 v2, sounds pretty good to my ears. Cheers.
 
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2010*zuma

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Your joking right?

Best write to ATC and Harbeth to name a few and let them know 👍🏻

'true path' my friend.

I'm sure the harbies are nice enough,
as for the merry go round of brands on the bandwagon doing the circuit and playing the game of points make prizes I'm not so sure ✌️
 

savvypaul

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'true path' my friend.

I'm sure the harbies are nice enough,
as for the merry go round of brands on the bandwagon doing the circuit and playing the game of points make prizes I'm not so sure ✌️
It is very easy to directly compare Harbies with a well designed high-efficiency speaker. You simply throw a blanket over the latter...
 

rabski

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In the good old days, all speakers were high efficiency. Then along came solid state. Moreover, along came the marketing people and the desire to have headline figures for output power. Combine the two and add in users who don't understand the consequences of ramming a few hundred watts up a pair of delicate voice coils, and you get a lot of things going bang rather than making (loud) music.

Speakers became less efficient because there are some advantages. With big power output being readily available with solid-state tech there was no absolute necessity to keep making high sensitivity designs.

IMHO, some of the very best sounds come from relatively low powered amps and relatively high sensitivity speakers, but the combination is delicate in more ways than one. If you want to continually reproduce Deep Purple at Wembley sort of SPLs, then nothing beats megawatt power and less sensitive speakers.
 

Non-Smoking Man

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My tendency is towards high sensitivity speakers and over the years Ive been noting the models that are not only sensitive but easy to drive .

Some suggestions -

Snell Js and E's
Triangle Antal
WAD WD25, KLS9 and KLS7 (Kit speakers)
Living Voice Auditorium
Troels Graveson DIY speakers, e.g., the 2 way floorstander Jantzen TQWT
Odeon Rigoletto (a similar design to the Jantzens, but better finished)
Zu Audio (budget?)
hORNS (budget?
Tannoy dual concentrics (budget?)
Q Acoustics (see above)

Next step? Loth-x Polaris.

Jack NSM
 
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tuga

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Why there isn’t more good entry level high sensitivity speakers, around £1000?

High sensitivity starts at around 96dB, but that is only really necessary if the amplifier power is below 20W. Such level of sensitivity is only found in very expensive multi-way horns.
Depending on the type of amplifier being used it is also important to have speakers which present an easy load. Topologies with a high output-impedance (usually low or no negative feedback designs) are affected by the speaker load.

As @rabski wrote above transistor amplifiers, negative feedback and demand for smaller and narrow speakers led to current speakers having low-ish to medium sensitivity and presenting demanding loads.
The small, low-sensitivity, long-excursion midwoofers used in current have a few advantages: they're easier to integrate with tweeters in terms of directivity, extend lower at the bottom end despite the smaller diameter and some designs actually produce less distortion than their lager counterparts.

If you intend to use your amplifier in triode-mode then it makes sense to go for high-ish sensitivity speakers and easier loads.
Because the combined amplifier-speaker frequency response is not easy to antecipate you have no option but to try a few different designs (e.g. those listed by @Non-Smoking Man ) until you find what you're looking for. The problem is that they're not cheap, even used, or easy to find. Personally I'd avoid any single-driver speakers.
 
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StingRay

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Why there isn’t more good entry level high sensitivity speakers, around £1000?
Is there any particular reason on why the majority of manufacturers avoid high sensitivity designs?
The 90db / 6 Ohm Wharfedale Linton Heritage is a rare exemple.

P.s. - I want to use my Cayin CS-55a tube integrated, but all my current speakers are very demanding, around 84-85db / 4 Ohm.
You can get Snell Js for around £600, one pair sold last month on here. Here is the ad: https://www.hifiwigwam.com/threads/snell-j-series-ii.118866/
 

Jazid

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For 'entry level' pricing, Snell J and their older AN siblings are hard to beat for fatigue free fun. For single driver speakers Frugelhorn would be a pretty good value option though none of the above is particularly high sensitivity. If the budget goes up Living Voice and Klipsch become interesting options.
As Tuga has indicated, true high sensitivity speakers (that won't rip your ears off) are almost always large, complex, and expensive.
 

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