what exactly is sensitivity?

[ladiesman8527 10+ year member]

keep in mind that i'm a newbie to this type of thing. i've been in the market for a new speaker system for my car...what i want to know is what is the sensitivity mean....everything in my car is Alpine....i've been looking at the Alpine SPS-170A Coaxial Speaker which i can get for $55 a pair or the Alpine SPR-174A Coaxial Speaker which i can get for $99 a pair.....now i assume that the more expensive model would be the better one....but then i look at the sensitivity of the less expensive one and its higher.....the cheaper model has a sensitivity of 92db and the more expensive model has a sensitivity of 87db....a friend of mine told me it has to do with sound quality but i figured i'd ask you guys....WHAT DOES SENSITIVTY MEAN!?

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[DJ FURY 10+ year member]

Sensitivity ratings simply tell you how much sound a speaker will produce for a given power input.

Speaker efficiency is the ability of the speaker to do work or use power.......hope this helps

 

[DJ FURY 10+ year member]

It has absolutely NOTHING to do with sound quality ...

And Jmac is right on with this one

 

[ladiesman8527 10+ year member]

so is a higher sensitivity neccesarily better?.....right now my subwoofers can get so loud that they drowned out the speakers....any suggestions on what sensitivity i should look for?

 

[somekook 10+ year member]

Sensitivity is how loud a speaker is with 1 watt ... in other words, it gives an idea of how loud a speaker is at low volumes ...
It has absolutely NOTHING to do with sound quality ...

Efficiency (1W/1M) = 112 + 10*Log(9.64*10^-10*Fs^3*Vas/Qes)

Vas = equivalent compliance measured in liters

Sensitivity is also known as efficiency in some cases. In other cases, sensitivity is the the loudness using 2.828427125 volts instead of 1 watt ...

2.83 volts @ 8 ohms = 1 watt

2.83 volts @ 4 ohms = 2 watts

2.83 volts @ 2 ohms = 4 watts

2.83 volts @ 1 ohm = 8 watts

im sure a newbie is going to understand that.... lol. anyways its important to remember that sensitivity may give you an idea of how loud a speaker will get with low power, but with higher wattage the 87 db speaker may easily be able to get louder. so dont assume a higher sensitivity is always a louder speaker

 

[magic_wizard 10+ year member]

you're a ladies man and you don't know what sensitivity is?

:hilarious:

 

[ladiesman8527 10+ year member]

lol i dont know how i should reply to that one