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Originally Posted by glennQNYC
First, the spec you're calling "efficiency" rating is the speaker's sensitivity rating. While it is common for the layman to get this wrong, that detail needed to be corrected.
The larger issue I'm trying to help readers grasp, is that people are mistakenly taking their experiences of amplifier specifications in retail consumer electronics, and transposing them to all audio amplifiers. This is flawed. Amplifier specifications in other markets like commercial and OEM are respected and not nearly as prone to marketing hijinks like consumer electronics.
It's simply inaccurate for anyone to state that ALL amplifier power ratings are BS. That's what I'm pushing back on.
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There are so many factors that change sound quality and volume; I have a difficult time to not believe power ratings are BS. I'll take a 75 watt tube amp over a 300 watt solid state amp any day.
I also have a hard time believing that a 300 watt class D amp is actually able to amplify the original source signal to 300 watts. There is a reason why many manufactures are looking at new amp topologies and its to get rid of noise/distortion/THD. Because certain transistor designs cause harmonics to be produced. Those harmonics end up getting amplified and cause distortion. (I'm really reaching back to a single college class here so excuse my lack of details.)
Another thing I have yet to see in this thread is DSP. With Digital Signal Processing you can make a garbage speaker sound great. DSP in audio is so advanced we can basically take out all linear distortion caused by the speaker design. Those paper cones in cheap stuff will be more prone to distortion (aka the speaker cone flexing in a way it wasn't intended). One reason highly sensitive drivers tend to have paper cones because of the weight. However; those paper cones are more likely to deform under high loads.
I'll bet when designing the new HK system, they did 2 things that lead to the different power rating. 1. They switched to a more efficient driver light materials used to manufacture the speaker cone, rubber webbing and rubber suspension materials. 2. They have been able to take these different drivers and been able to code out all the linear distortion these drivers have under load. More efficient speakers and better DSP allowed them to lower the overall power needed to get the same sound quality and output.
Going to cheaper speakers and using DSP is what the audio industry is trending towards. Bose became popular because they were the first to market devices with DSP successfully. Everyone needed "Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones" years ago.