87dB Sensitivity (1 Viewer)

[Stelios]

Hi everyone

Is 87dB Sensitivity good for HT speakers? Which one is better, higher or lower db? Is it related to the receiver amplifier? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Stelios

 

[David Judah]

It's on the lower side compared to many current speakers that are in the 89-90+ range, but certainly not unreasonable. If you like the sound of the speakers don't let lower sensitivities scare you away.

It means the speaker will put out 87 dB on an SPL meter with 1 watt from 1 meter away. Every doubling of power you pick up 3 dB, so if you do the math 2W=90 dB, 4W=93 dB, 8W=96 dB, etc... Incidently, for every doubling of distance you lose around 6 dB(except for line source speakers which lose 3 dB).

As you can see, it will give you an idea how much power you need to reach a specific level, although the absolute values are more difficult to predict in an actual room.

DJ

 

[Stelios]

Thanks David Judah for your prompt and informative explanation. The speaker that I have in mind is the SONY SA-VE835. I do like the looks and the reports I get is that, it is a very good speaker for the price you pay. The Receiver that I have ordered is also SONY the STR-DB790.

Stelios

 

[Michael R Price]

Of course, keep in mind that many, or even most sensitivity specifications are inflated by as much as 3-5 db. If the speaker is actually 87db sensitive and doesn't dip much below 8 ohms, that's not bad.