How much louder are floorstanders than bookshelfs? im comparing Athena AS-F1s or 2s to the AS-B2s. i decided to get the AS-F2s for $400 but if AS-B2s would get close to the volume capability of the floorstanders, i would not want to pay an extra $220 for just a small difference. i am getting an HSU sub so bass does not matter, just volume and clarity.
It requires at least 1.5 dB to make any real change in perceived volume level. Three dB is an easily noticeable, though not overwhelming, change in level. Look at the sensitivity specs and make a determination. The specs will not tell you everything you need to know, but, in this case, can be a decent guideline.
i thought the DB sensitivity told how easy or efficient the speakers were. SO a bookshelf that has 92db should play nearly the same volume, same clarity as a 92db floorstander from the same company?
Most particularly if they are from the same company and use the same drivers. The crossover components and how they work with the drivers will vary the ability of speakers rated at identical SPL's to deliver high volumes; but if the speakers are essentially similar components in different size boxes, the differences should be minimal. Sensitivity specs are taken as an average of all the + or - numbers the speakers produce. Some may lean a bit in one direction or another, but 92dB is basically 92dB.
Jan you are not talking about speaker sensitivity right? A speaker with a 3db sensitiy rating will sound twice as loud.
Certain speakers may have emphasis in different frequencies making them sound louder as well, but 92 db isn't too quiet. I'd bet they are the same volume - a lot of bookshelf units are intentionally made to be louder for their size.
Anonymous
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"A speaker with a 3db sensitiy rating will sound twice as loud. "
3dB is a doubling of acoustic energy; 10dB is perceived doubling of loudness.
Correct. When someone says they want their system to play "louder", they usually mean (at least) twice as loud as the current level. Buying an amplifier with twice as much wattage (from 50 to 100 watts) will, assuming equal quality between the amplifiers, gain about 3 dB in volume. That is a noticeable, though not overwhelming, increase in volume.
To play twice as loud the wattage has to be increased ten fold. On average, when the components are of equal quality, the volume difference will be about 10dB with ten times the amount of wattage. So 1 watt to 10 watts or 50 watts to 500 watts would get you "twice" as loud. Of course, that is assuming, in the latter case, your speakers could deal with 500 watt peaks. That change in level is usually considered "twice" as loud.
As a reference, it is typical for a stepped volume control to have approximately 1 1/2 dB steps between each position on the control. (This is not a hard and fast rule and volume controls often have a taper which changes the amount of level change based on the position of the control.) So if you are listening at -20 on the control, stepping it up two notches will probably amount to about a 3dB change in volume; or about the same as doubling the power output.
Now, I don't understand this statement, "a lot of bookshelf units are intentionally made to be louder for their size." Louder than what? Louder than bookshelf speakers smaller than their size? As I said, 92db is, more or less, 92dB. That's fairly efficient for a bookshelf speaker and more efficient than many floorstanding speakers. But still, if the bookshelf and the floorstander are the same components in a different sized box and they are both rated at 92db with 1 watt in @ 1 meter, they will play at virtually the same volume level at 1 watt input. Box size does play a role in how loud the system will go, so it is hard to imagine two speaker systems using identical components being rated at the exact same SPL, but the numbers are the numbers.