Speaker Matching Query

[admin_exported]

I'm right into computer based music rather than CD/Vinyl etc but I know naff all about speakers really.

I have a dilemma. I have an amp that has a nominal 6 ohm output, with 40wpc on offer. At the moment these feed a pair of Acoustic Energy AE1 Classic speakers on shelves on the wall. I have the proper stands but try as I may I simply cannot squeeze them in the room without the prospect of an impending divorce from her indoors (bless her!).

So they are a bit crammed in. The amp also seems to need to be cranked up a bit. So, I need a pair of bookshelf speakers no more than 29cm high and 25cm deep, width doesn't matter. I am toying with the Dali Zensors as they are a little smaller, not as deep and would have a bit more space around them. I realise this is a big price gap so I am wondering if I am mad to think this way? Any ideas?

Also the Dali's are rated 6 ohm and 86.5 sensitivity, The AE1's 8 ohms and 88 sensitivity. Would the Dali's be easier to drive based on these figures as I'm note sure how this works. I do have a sub which helps out in the bottom end.

Purely for the sake ofmy love life I'd like to resolve this! By the way I'm after speaker advice not relationship counselling

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Any suggestions anyone?

 

[Anonymous]

The higher the sensitivity in db, the louder the speaker will be for a given power input. Therefore the AE1s at 88db will be slighly louder than the Dalis at 86.5...which I guess is the wrong answer for you!

 

[Anonymous]

Agree ref higher sensitivity but Dali's are 6 ohm and AE's 8 ohm so wondering how that affects things. Also Amp is 6 ohm output so my mind tells me Dali's might be more efficient maybe?

 

[Mooly]

When a manufacturer claims 8 (or 6) or whatever ohms impedance, that is just a nominal value. My B&W's are (8 ohm) but the manufacturer freely admits they go as low as 3 ohm.

So what does this mean... well your amplifier comes close to what is a "constant voltage source" (the voltage that appears across the speaker terminals) meaning that voltage remains essentially constant with differing loads, within reason. The lower the load impedance and the more current it pulls from the amp.

A typical impedance curve is shown here. As you can see it's anything but constant and the exact value depends on the applied frequency.

http://www.churchsoundcheck.com/imp1.html

So your 8 ohm vs 6 ohm is too close to call as a generalisation without seeing the manufacturers impedance plot.

In practice you will have no problems driving the 6 ohm load... it may on average even be easier than the 8 ohm.