Thought I would get this going for all things 6 series.  Looking at comparisons between the 632 and 6B and the first thing I noticed was that the 6B was thirteen pounds heavier.  Holy Moly!  You gotta think that called for an increae in shipping costs, no?

Hi Dan,

 

I have a pair of 632’s as front mains driven with my primary Onkyo 805.

 

I can’t believe the 6B bookshelf weighs the same as the new 5T.

 

Oops Aperion.

 

What I really find interesting is that the new 6B is 4db less sensitive than the 632 with no graphs provided yet.

 

Here is a linear graph showing approximate power requirements for a variety of different SPL rated speakers.

 

http://s167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/jacgat55/?action=view&current=Power_vs_SPL_LinearSPL-83-106-82db.jpg

 

Jack

Hi, Jack

Nice graph, very easy to interpret, and a great aid in comparison. 

I hope a lot of folks see this since it visually shows the difference in power requirements for increasing levels of SPL dB based soley on the speaker's sensitivity (wish I had thought of this).

Fred

The weight of the 6B is 26 lbs - we made a typo on the website! 

Sorry about that, we now return you to your regularly scheduled forum thread. 

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Word.

Hey Fred,

 

The main reason I posted the graph was to present what the challenge might be for a modest amp in power say 80 - 90 WPC could face in dealing with a low sensitivity speaker versus a high sensitivity speaker.

 

I just replayed Desperado on DVD that has some long action bursts of gunfire and explosions that increase by at least 15db over the normal listening level.

 

I would consider the 6B to be a rather LOW sensitivity speaker at 82db.

 

That does not concern me so much as it may others since my 805 @ 130WPC will probably handle even the most inefficient speakers admirably.

 

I altered the graph from soundandvisionmag, to include an 83 and 82 db speaker; the bright blue at the very bottom is the 82db approximately.

 

Jack

According to the graph a 100 watt per channel receiver will push a speaker with an 82 DB sensitivity to an output of about 104 DB's of SPL, no?

 I probably listen to most of my content at 85-90 DB's.  And with a +/- factor of 15DB spikes and dips,  that can be experienced durning movies you are at most getting up to the 100-105db range, no?  Heck, a 75 DB spl sounds pretty loud when I'm calibrating my system with pink noise.  What is the average SPL listening level for most people?  80, 90, 100?

 Sorry, I just don't understand why everyone is so concerned about this.  I think Aperion took into consideration that most people would be using low to mid-priced equipment to run their speakers and I'm thinking they tested accordingly to ensure we would get good performance out of their new speakers with this type of equipment.

Hi, Dan

 

If you haven’t already, read the thread on Efficiency elsewhere on this forum.  This may answer a few of your questions.

 

As mentioned in that thread, there are a lot of variables involved concerning SPL, power, etc., and they may or may not affect you and your application. 

 

The main point of the Efficiency thread was to try to explain how a few of these variables interact with each other, and what the results might be in certain applications.  The graph posted by Jack simplifies my explanations and covers a far wider range of SPL and watts, and is very useful for comparison of different speaker sensitivities.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Fred

Thanks.  Sorry, for some reason I thought people were complaining about the lowered sensitivity of the speakers.  Therefore was trying to investigate the reasoning behind it.

 

Dan.

Dan,

 

To avoid clipping and distortion, which will detract from the sonic experience, you need to have an amplifier competent of reproducing clean output to the speakers with headroom in reserve.

 

This includes the transients and bursts that may be significantly higher in power requirements than the average SPL listening level from a variety of sources.

 

My post was intended to help in the decision-making process and not bash low sensitivity speakers.

 

Regardless of what Amp or AVR you have or intend to buy, I believe it is a good idea to consider matching the Amplification device to the speakers so they will easily produce clean sound at rated specs without distortion.

 

Depending on ones SPL listening preferences speaker sensitivity may be a factor.

 

Research is my best friend in many areas along with experimentation, so I encourage both to those seeking an answer.

 

Jack

Thanks Jack.  I apoligize if I misinterprted your post and i certainly wasn't trying to call anyone out who questioned Aperions decision to lower the sensitivy of their speakers.  I was just trying to understand why the questions were raised.  I have a basic understanding that lower sensitivity requires more power and lower impedance means a larger pipeway to fill causing the amp to work harder.  When I looked at the graph I noticed that even the 82 DB speaker @ 100 watts was over 100 DB's and I thought that was higher than most modern cinemas?   Thanks for all the info you provided thus far as forums are definately a resource I use in my research. 

It's not that big of a deal in my opinion, the 632 was 2 dB less sensitive than the 532 so it makes sense that the relationship between the 6B and 5B is still the same even though the sensitivities of the new speakers are lower across the board. 

The bottom line though is that there are different speakers that work better in different contexts and for a particular type of user.  I see the 6B as being a speaker for folks that are really into their music, and I doubt that these customers would be spending nearly $700 on a pair of bookshelves only to hook them up to an underpowered or low current amp.  If you are going to be using the speaker primarily for home theater you might as well get the 5Bs anyway since you won't hear that much of a difference in that context. 

Tell you what though, just for fun, when the 6Bs show up here I'll hook them up to my 10W T-amp and give you guys a full unbiased report. 

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Jason Hicks
Aperion Audio Guru

Dan,

You were not out on a limb by thinking what you were thinking. I too was thinking it was a sort of bash session. I actually had a reply typed out, but decided to stay out of the riff raff. I will tell you, I don't give a damn about the sensitivity. The speakers sound fantastic. After one hour, I cut down the boxes. I knew there was no way I was returning them. And that is all that counts in my opinion!

With no disrespect intended to Fred and Jack, of course.

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Scottiemon

Same here, I typed a response but I didn't want to offend anyone so I didn't post.  Comparing my previous 5 series with the new series, sure I've had to turn up my 130WPC amp just a little to compensate, but the rewards are all so sweet.   

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Speakers: Aperion 6T, 6C, 5DB, 6IC, Bravus 10Dx2
Monitor: JVC RS20U front projector with Stewart Velux 100" screen
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V1800
Blu-ray: Yamaha BD-S2900
Amplifier: Emotiva UPA-7
Conditioner: Panamax M5300PM

I say post your responses! We are all for rigorous debate in these here forums...Just keep the 4 letter expletives to a minimum.

 

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David Bolt
Aperion Audio Guru
www.aperionaudio.com

Scottiemon,

 

In your case (owning an Onkyo 805), I can understand your indifference to sensitivity…nearly a kilowatt of amplification should be sufficient for most applications.  And I am sincerely happy to hear you’re pleased with the 6Bs’ sound (which is likely to be excellent).  No doubt you’ve done some research prior to making a decision as to what you eventually bought.  Informed selections are something all of us strive for and, hopefully, the “back-and-forth” exchange of information, opinion(s), debate, etc., contributes meaningfully to our satisfaction with whatever we finally purchase.

 

Concerning your “thinking” this might have been “a sort of bash session”, if you’ve not already done so, please read my post on Efficiency.  In particular, read the two sections: How does any of this matter? and my experience (the preceding stuff can be considered technical background but, nonetheless, the meat of the discussion).  I spent a lot of time on these topics (the entire post, for that matter) and made an attempt to be accurate, concise, informative, objective, and helpful to others whose situations might be similar to my own.  And if you don't think sensitivity matters for you, trust me when I tell you that it might for others (and even you, though the 805 is capable of making you unaware of SPL demands on amplifiers).

 

On that same thread, read the questions asked of me by Bill, and then read my responses.  Of even greater relevance, pay close(r) attention to my response concerning his “having second thoughts.”

 

As mentioned on this thread, I felt the graph posted by Jack was useful for comparative purposes, and vividly showed the differing levels of power required to obtain identical levels of SPL for speakers of different sensitivities.  And while I can’t speak for Jack…where my post on Efficiency was intended to explain and inform, I believe his was intended to compare.

 

I’ve also mentioned, several times, that all of this may or may not apply to you (you being whoever may be reading this). 

 

If your analysis of the foregoing leads to your conclusions of “You were not out on a limb…” and “riff raff”, then you entirely missed the point of the discussion.

 

Fred

 

PS – “With no disrespect intended to Fred and Jack, of course.”  No offense taken by me.