High Current vs high power

Al and Ralph, it amazes me how this technical issue just keeps on giving.

I think the whole subject could be mooted if every speaker on the market was required to have an 8 ohm ruler flat impedance curve and zero phase angle curve as a function of frequency response. That way all speakers would be tube and SS friendly.

Well, I also believe in the Tooth Fairy and Ariel the Little Mermaid so anything is possible.

To the other guys -- please don't take this post as a put-down. This issue has had me bogged down for over a year now. So count me in as a card carrying member of the confused society, but just a little bit less so today thanks to Al and Ralph. Just check my other posts.

Regards,

Bruce

Zd ... more than you know, I agree with what you said about live auditions. A while back, I posted a comment about road testing two sets of speakers at a dealer friend's shop. Coincidentally, he had just taken in trade an ARC VS-115 tube amp, which until a week ago was the amp I used. That's about as good as it gets for "A/B'ing" speakers. I was quite surprised that a speaker similar to my current fronts ("Brand P") cleaned the floor up with Brand X. Was it the gear, the room, the cables, the amp??? Dunno. But in "theory" Brand X should have cleaned up the floor with Brand P. Go figure.

But here's the dilemma. How often can one fairly audition speakers, amps and other gear given the paucity of high end B&M stores? Forget being able to control all the variables, like using the same model amp when comparing speakers. At least in my neck of the woods, forget taking gear home. Doesn't happen.

OTOH, I find the subject of speaker/amp electrical compatibility interesting. Grasping the variables, many of which are EE design trade-offs, is challenging. But that's me.

Cheers

Bruce

Thank you Bombaywalla. Thanks also to Al and Ralph.

Agree with Al's last post. Stats, IMO, while not controlling factors, are nonetheless relevant and informative.

As I posted some time ago, I rued matching my ARC tube amp with my Paradigm Sig 8 v3 speakers. The S8s looked like the most tube unfriendly speakers one would want to match with a tube amp. And the truth be told, a Paradigm tech person strongly advised that the S8s should be driven with a high current/high power SS amp. Oooopps.

What confounded me was why my ARC VS-115 tube amp seemed to do a pretty good job driving the S8s even though on paper one might think otherwise. Well, it may still be the case that a high power/high current SS amp very well may be a better match with my S8s.

But then again, after a ba-zillion on line and off line messages with Al and Ralph I finally started to understand why my ARC amp did a good job with the S8s. There's a very important stat that I overlooked -- my amp's output impedance. Al and Ralph had to use a carbide steel drill bit before I finally got it in my head that a tube amp with "relatively" low output impedance and moderate negative feedback might perform somewhat like a Voltage Paradigm amp -- that is a SS amp.

In fact, ARC's literature reports, as confirmed by John Atkinson and Soundstage magazine, that the output voltage regulation of my old VS-115 and current Ref 150 off the 4 ohm taps is +/- .4 or .5 db regardless of speaker impedance and frequency. In addition, the damping factor of both amps, while not 1000:1, is still respectable. And that folks is why my ARC tube amps are able to do a credible job driving my "tube unfriendly" S8s.

Does that mean I should forego live auditions?? No. Does that mean stats tell me everything? No. But as Al just said above, if I have an interest in road testing a tube amp that performs like a Voltage Paradigm amp with a so called "tube unfriendly" speaker I should still give it a whirl (audition). I might be pleasantly surprised. And I have been!

So IMO a basic understanding of stats does have some benefit and informative value.

Thanks again Al and Ralph.

Bruce

P.S. I have a passing interest in checking out the Revel Studio 2 speakers. Revel's sales literature and member comments both state that the Studio 2s will sound best when driven by a high power SS amp. That sounds familiar. But I think Al might say don't automatically rule out trying the Studio 2s with my ARC tube gear. One day I just might!