Then there is the issue of phase angle:.............
Current optimized or voltage optimized speakers?
Just read a recent post from an old thread, and an old question, that has kicked around the Forum for some time. Back in "09," a member wrote:
"Read Atmasphere's posts and white paper. Amp choice [is] highly dependent on whether your speakers are current optimized or voltage optimized. Which strongly suggest[s] that at least a part of 'system synergy' can be predicted."
The question for the Forum is how can one know whether speakers are "current optimized or voltage optimized"?
My layman's understanding of Ralph's whitepaper is that most solid state amps are based on the "voltage paradigm" (voltage is constant and watts change with load) and that most tube amps are based on the "power paradigm" (voltage changes with load, but watts don't change very much) [or is it the other way around?? LOL]
The old post quoted above suggests that some speakers will work better with solid state amps and others with tube amps -- let's leave electrostats and maggies out of the discussion. I'm thinking about the vast array of dynamic speakers out there.
So . . . restating the question, how do we know whether dynamic Speaker X will work best with a tube amp or a solid state amp?
"Read Atmasphere's posts and white paper. Amp choice [is] highly dependent on whether your speakers are current optimized or voltage optimized. Which strongly suggest[s] that at least a part of 'system synergy' can be predicted."
The question for the Forum is how can one know whether speakers are "current optimized or voltage optimized"?
My layman's understanding of Ralph's whitepaper is that most solid state amps are based on the "voltage paradigm" (voltage is constant and watts change with load) and that most tube amps are based on the "power paradigm" (voltage changes with load, but watts don't change very much) [or is it the other way around?? LOL]
The old post quoted above suggests that some speakers will work better with solid state amps and others with tube amps -- let's leave electrostats and maggies out of the discussion. I'm thinking about the vast array of dynamic speakers out there.
So . . . restating the question, how do we know whether dynamic Speaker X will work best with a tube amp or a solid state amp?