I'm new to all of this and so I'm in "learning" mode. Here's my question. I stopped by a Kli**** dealer the other day and listened to that brand of speakers. The dealer had the level turned down to what I'd call "conversation" level (not loud at all), and I could hear every note, every sound, etc.. He told me this was the "efficiency" of that brand of speaker - and that it would be difficult to find this efficiency in other manufacturers' products. I liked listening at that level, and would do so occasionally. My question is whether speakers like Axiom's are as efficient, and if I'd be happy with the sound at normal levels, or do they have to be turned up in order to pick up everything? (I know this is vague, but please bear with me). Thanks.
That's a good question. Efficiency is actually how loudly a speaker sounds when playing a signal at a specific power level and doesn't have much to do with clarity.
Klipsch speakers are generally known for being efficient, however, so the dealer was half right.
Clarity at low levels of loudness is more a function of how accurate the speaker is across the frequency range. Axioms are known for being very "detailed", which I believe is the same thing you are describing, although it never hurts to try and listen to a pair if you can.
The biggest thing I liked about my Axioms was their ability to pick apart the different notes and sounds, eg "oh, I see, that's an electric bass *and* a bass synth playing at the same time, you can hear the electric bass fumble a note occasionally". Other people talk about hearing pick noise on guitars, players shuffling their feet etc..
Axioms obviously aren't the only speakers which reproduce sound with this clarity, but they do seem to be very good.
My circumstances rarely permit me to open up my system and, though my neighbors would probably disagree, I listen at relatively low volume most of the time. Just my opinion, but I think the Axioms are exceptional at low volume. I consider it one of their strong points.
Chuck, welcome. What the brand K dealer said confused two entirely different points, as John B. indicated. The Ks are more efficient in the use of amplifier power than most speakers, so for a given sound level they use less watts. This isn't really that much of an advantage however, because these days clean amp power is cheap and plentiful and should rarely be a major factor in a speaker decision.
The clarity of a speaker at moderate(or any)sound levels depends on factors such as the flatness of the frequency response, relatively low distortion, good transient response, etc., but isn't related to efficiency.