Speaker sensitivity is an important aspect that can sway potential buyers towards or away from a specific model or brand. Thus, it gives an incentive for manufacturers to fudge their numbers; this fudging can be accomplished via the frequency range, weighting, in-room estimates, etc.
I decided to analyze all the passive speakers Amir has measured thus far, which is 36 as of writing this (some models did not have advertised sensitivity). For the calculation of the measured sensitivity, the average, non-weighted SPL from 300Hz-3kHz of the on-axis was used, this parameter was chosen as it is what SoundStageNetwork/NRC uses for their measurements (except they use it on a listening window). John Atkinson of Stereophile calculates sensitivity by feeding a "20kHz-bandwidth noise at a standard level, capture the output waveform...and apply B-weighting to the 1/10-octave-smoothed power response.".
Here are the results:
As we see, 50% of the speakers measured thus far deviate no more than 1/2 a decibel from their advertised sensitivity. The CEA-2034 standard states that a ±1.5dB variance between measurement setups is considered "good", and using that parameter rises the conformity to 75%.
The brand with the worst results is by far Klipsch. For their two models measured, their relative levels of differences are far from identical; this occurrence could be attributed to the different parameters Klipsch uses and differences in measurement technique (John Atkinson has measured the RP-600M as well and his parameters and measurement setup resulted in a difference of -6.4dB; he has measured 5 Klipsch models total and the average difference is -3.4dB).
As one of the most popular Hi-Fi / home theater brands, it is disheartening to see the use of parameters which result in them appearing to have much higher sensitivity; it should be of note that for Klipsch's current Hertiage line (Heresy IV, Cornwall IV, Klipshorn AK6, La Scala AL5, and Forte III ), they all state "Sensitivity in average listening room", yet none of their other model lines have/state this parameter.
The three brands with the best results are Ascend Acoustics, ELAC, and Pioneer. While the Dayton Audio & Polk speakers did match their specs exactly, only having 1 speaker measured for each cannot be used to form a conclusive statement.
While parameters used may be different, it is good to see the majority of the speakers measured thus far meet their sensitivity spec.
All interactive charts/data, along with some others, are available here, and updated when an applicable speaker is reviewed.
EDIT: Update, I asked some companies on their rating/testing parameters.
I decided to analyze all the passive speakers Amir has measured thus far, which is 36 as of writing this (some models did not have advertised sensitivity). For the calculation of the measured sensitivity, the average, non-weighted SPL from 300Hz-3kHz of the on-axis was used, this parameter was chosen as it is what SoundStageNetwork/NRC uses for their measurements (except they use it on a listening window). John Atkinson of Stereophile calculates sensitivity by feeding a "20kHz-bandwidth noise at a standard level, capture the output waveform...and apply B-weighting to the 1/10-octave-smoothed power response.".
Here are the results:
As we see, 50% of the speakers measured thus far deviate no more than 1/2 a decibel from their advertised sensitivity. The CEA-2034 standard states that a ±1.5dB variance between measurement setups is considered "good", and using that parameter rises the conformity to 75%.
The brand with the worst results is by far Klipsch. For their two models measured, their relative levels of differences are far from identical; this occurrence could be attributed to the different parameters Klipsch uses and differences in measurement technique (John Atkinson has measured the RP-600M as well and his parameters and measurement setup resulted in a difference of -6.4dB; he has measured 5 Klipsch models total and the average difference is -3.4dB).
As one of the most popular Hi-Fi / home theater brands, it is disheartening to see the use of parameters which result in them appearing to have much higher sensitivity; it should be of note that for Klipsch's current Hertiage line (Heresy IV, Cornwall IV, Klipshorn AK6, La Scala AL5, and Forte III ), they all state "Sensitivity in average listening room", yet none of their other model lines have/state this parameter.
The three brands with the best results are Ascend Acoustics, ELAC, and Pioneer. While the Dayton Audio & Polk speakers did match their specs exactly, only having 1 speaker measured for each cannot be used to form a conclusive statement.
While parameters used may be different, it is good to see the majority of the speakers measured thus far meet their sensitivity spec.
All interactive charts/data, along with some others, are available here, and updated when an applicable speaker is reviewed.
EDIT: Update, I asked some companies on their rating/testing parameters.
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