jj@rabbit.UUCP (06/09/83)
I've noticed that most drivers (most woofers actually) that I've used in speaker systems have an effeciency roughly equivelent to 82-90 dBSPL at 1 watt/1 meter. I find the numbers given in some of the previous articles quite low, i.e. 70dB at 5 watts, even given a large, dead room, sounds at best like 76dBSPL at 5 watts/1 meter. (You'll be surprised how much energy is stored in a "dead" room.) That's about 69-70dB SPL / watt / meter. That's a very low conversion efficiency, even for "hi-fi" speakers. Highly effecient components (for sound reinforcement, not accurate reproduction) manage 100dB/w/m for cone drivers, and higher for compression horn drivers.