Can someone explain Sensitivity plz

[Forty-Ouncer 10+ year member]

Im looking around on speakers and ive been told several different things about what Sensitivity actually means.

Does it have anything to do with how loud the speaker gets? What is better a high or low sensitivity? If I wanna pick out LOUD speakers does this rating have anything to do with it?

Can someone explain this and maybe give some examples plz??

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[KaeZoo 10+ year member]

Sensitivity is a rating of how loud the speaker is with a defined amount of power input.

For example, if a speaker is rated at 93dB sensitivity, that means that if you give it one watt of power it will produce 93 dB of output. You can get an idea of how much volume it produces at higher power, too; when you multiply the power by ten, you produce ten more decibels. Adding 10 decibels makes something sound twice as loud. So the speaker would theoretically produce 103 dB at 10 watts, 113 dB at 100 watts, and so on.

Of course, things like enclosures, mounting locations and the interior of the vehicle are going to have a huge effect on the output too, so you can't use a sensitivity rating to figure out your SPL in the vehicle. But speakers with higher sensitivity will be louder, with the same power applied, than speakers with lower sensitivity ratings.

 

[Apoc 10+ year member]

kaezoo explained that pretty well, let us know if you need more explanation

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Long story short; Don't worry too much about it.

 

[Forty-Ouncer 10+ year member]

so then, if I want my music loud (which i do) I should look at speakers with higher sensitivity?

Right now i got a pair of MB Quart DSE216 that to me, just dont get loud enough. There are installed in the door of my car with a foam thingy around it to stop the water from getting in. What can i do to make em get louder and sound better without paying $$$ out the bum?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

so then, if I want my music loud (which i do) I should look at speakers with higher sensitivity?

In theory, that sounds all nice and well, but it hardly ever works out that way. As Jmac mentioned, there are other things to worry about such as power compression, "fudged" numbers, maximum displacement, and a ton of other variables. Sensitivity only measures the output at 1w (or 2.83V, which on a 4ohm speaker works out to be about 2w), many things change once power is increased past that amount.

Take the Resonant Engineering XXX for example. They are horribly inefficient, yet they get insanely loud. It just takes more power to get them to that level.

 

[jujumantb 10+ year member]

so then, if I want my music loud (which i do) I should look at speakers with higher sensitivity?

Think of it as efficiency, a driver with a higher sensitivity should get louder than a driver with a lower sensitivity when given the same amount of power. That is not to say in the least that the driver with lower sensitivity cant get as loud as the one with higher sensitivity, it will just take more power to get there.

 

[Apoc 10+ year member]

truthfully, there isnt an audible difference that I have noticed, maybe machines and instruments can measure it but I sure cant tell.