Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice

The decibel reading at my chair is averaging 80 dbl with peaks at 92 dbl.

@dsper

50 watts should be enough unless your room is really big.

Can it cover the low frequency impedance dips.

Our amps are some of the most sensitive of amps to load, and even they would be fine on a speaker like this. You’ve no worries about a dip 6 ohms with any tube amp made!

What you will/may notice when a tube amp is driving a speaker with low impedance dips is an uneven frequency response, e.g. the speakers may sound "bright".

I think that is exactly what worries me about a tube amp. Can it cover the low frequency impedance dips.

With solid state, one can form, at least, a preliminary sorting by learning the  8/4/2 ohm and watts specs; but it does not seem to be that easy with tubes. A few tube amp suppliers claim a 2 ohm load capability but most of the websites I have reviewed are silent on this topic. 

Maybe I am worrying too much about it based on my Thiel CS5 experience.  

Thanks for listening,

Dsper

Tube watts are NOT more powerful than SS watts, they simply can present distortion in a more pleasant way. I suggest a Black Ice (formerly Jolida) tube amp as they're well made, sound great, and inexpensive even when new. I owned a 502p amp and it served me well...great stuff.

You should check with Tyler, but a 50-60 wpc push pull amp should be fine with those speakers.

As I recollect prior discussions with Tyler, he indicated that he has customers using 50 watt tube amps but also mentions that he thinks 100 watts solid state is a good number to consider.

FWIW, I have also run a Coda CS (300 WPC) with them, just to see, but went back to the  DNA 500 because I hear more textural detail and pace.

Dsper 

The only issue is whether 50-60 watts is enough power. What are you playing them with now?

I am currently using my McCormack DNA 500 (which is a necessity with my Thiel CS5's) to power the Tylers.

Have been listening to "The Essential Jaco Pastorius" and then some George Thorogood.

The decibel reading at my chair is averaging 80 dbl with peaks at 92 dbl.

I do not need it any louder than that and generally listen at lower levels. 

Dsper

Even if you don't have the opportunity to audition a wide array of amplifiers in your home, you should at least make the effort to hear one or two with your speakers to get some idea of whether tubes are really for you.  I've heard Tylers (don't know the model) with some medium and lower powered tube amps, and I thought they played well together, but, that is by my standards, taste and listening practice (I don't listen at high volume levels). Only you can decide how loud the amps must play, how much bass and bass control you demand, how important is the ability to play softly and still sound reasonably balanced and exciting (tubes are generally good in that regard), and a host of other considerations.

For my particular taste, I am not a big fan of high-powered tube amps; if something requires more than 50 watts, I am inclined to look at solid state even though most solid state amps sound slightly lifeless to me, particularly at lower volume levels.  I generally find higher powered tube amps to sound brittle and a little bit harsh.

If you don't demand ultra deep and punchy bass and rock concert volume levels, I think you could find a tube amp that would make you happy, assuming, that is, that the Tyler speakers are a reasonably easy load to drive.  I've heard many speakers with a lower efficiency rating than 88 db/w that worked well with 50 watts or less.

The speakers in question are Tyler Acoustics. Tyler advised me they are 8 ohm 88 dbl and should not dip below 6 ohms.

@
In terms of impedance this speaker is an easy load (which is good regardless of what kind of amp you have, but with tubes this is particularly helpful). The only issue is whether 50-60 watts is enough power. What are you playing them with now?

Selecting tubes and tube amps to suit your needs is very subjective, plus there are a bunch of variables that are unique to each situation. Pick a well regarded amp circuit as a starting point, and get your feet wet...you can taylor the types and brands from there as needed.

I’m running two Dyna/VTA ST70s in a vertical passive bi-amp configuration, which allows me to use different tubes on the woofer channels than those on the tweeter channels. They’re all EL34s, but there are differences between brands, and it’s fun to experiment with them. My stock driver tubes are 12AU7, but I recently opted for 12BH7s in the more critical positions...I love those.

My amps have a manual bias that’s really fairly easy to do, and once set, they don’t drift much. No worries if you can use a voltmeter.

I’m driving speakers of average 89db efficiency. I can run the amps in triode mode at 20wpc, or ultralinear at 35wpc. The vast majority of the times I opt for the clarity of triode mode, and almost never feel the need for more power or more volume. There’s so much room ambience, inner detail, and dynamic contrasts that I don’t feel the need to reach ear bleed levels anymore ....100db is more than enough to annoy my wife! Love the tubes, and will likely never give them up because of the glimpse into the studio that they offer. Good luck!

I suggest reading Robert Harley’s book "The Complete Guide to High End Audio", paying particular attention to the chapters on amplification.

Good reminder to take another look at it. Thanks!

Which leads me to question, how large is the OP's listening room? 

Listening room is 25 X 15 X 9.  Due to room logistics, speakers are two feet from the front wall and the speakers are about 10 feet from listening position; thus half the room is behind the listening position. 

That's great info @tvad .
Which leads me to question, how large is the OP's listening room?

@dsper 
You should check with Tyler, but a 50-60 wpc push pull amp should be fine with those speakers.

My speakers are 90dB, 8 ohm nominal. The impedance curve is pretty flat at 8 ohms and I use a 30wpc dual-mono Atma-sphere amp. Wonderful sound.

The speakers in question are Tyler Acoustics. Tyler advised me they are 8 ohm 88 dbl and should not dip below 6 ohms. 

While speaker sensitivity is important when considering tube amp matching, you should place as much weight, if not more, on impedance (how easy the speaker is to drive).  One reason Joseph Audio Perspectives (eg) work so well with many tube amps is because they're 8 ohm speakers that never dip below 5.5 ohms.  Yet their sensitivity is only around 84dB.  Tube amps 50w and higher should work well with them.

FWIW, I have Quicksilver 60wpc monoblock tube amps and at first I thought I had to have high sensitivity speakers. I did try some at 92, 93 db and they had an easier time than speakers I tried at 87 and 88 db but I have to say I found that the Monos were perfectly fine powering speakers as low as 87db. They sounded delightful and not at all underpowered. I do suspect that a lower powered tube amp might have had more trouble, but my QS has a honking transformer and easily controls those lower db speakers — which I liked better. Impedance, as lowrider57 said is very important. I had 92 db Focals which had a bad dip in the 4 and sub-4 ohm region, and that proved a problem with the sound, in my setup.

As others here have said, this is a huge topic, and I will admit, I am a newbie. So all I am saying is that I *thought* I had to rule speakers "under 90 db" out of consideration -- and I found that proved false by actual experimentation. Also worth noting: in my space, I only need to play speakers about 8 feet away, at about 80db volume to sound good an loud.

you are asking a question that takes a short book to properly answer

i suggest you do a search for something like ’hifi tube amp basics’ on youtube, and watch several entries that pop up - you will educate yourself faster than reading peoples' snippets here

OP; what speakers will you be using?
Impedance will determine how well an amp drives the speaker; ie, a speaker with an impedance curve that stays in the 8ohm range will be easy to drive. The 88dB sensitivity may be on the low side but is less important if the speakers have an easy load to drive.
If you need high SPL’s in a large room, higher sensitivity speakers are required.
So, need to know more than the nominal impedance spec, although 50 to 60wpc may be fine.

The tube which has the most impact sonically is the gain stage input tube, often a 12AX7. Power tubes will provide the timber or tone of music; warm or neutral, bass and treble extension.
Transformers play a very important role in amp implementation. They have a sonic signature and the amount and quality of current delivered will affect speaker performance.

EL34 are a bit warmer than KT88, which are very slightly warmer than 6550C. But these are gross generalizations, and its a mistake to focus on the tubes. In reality the transformers are equally as important, as are the quality of caps, power supply diodes, and the overall quality of construction. In other words tube amps are just like everything else. To focus on the tubes without considering transformers is as bad as to focus on the drivers while ignoring the speaker cabinet.

Honestly, I know you want a tube amp but my advice is forget that until you're into some more tube-friendly speakers. 90dB can work, 95dB is a lot better, and 98 or more is beautiful. Because while tube watts are greater than solid state watts still you are much, much more likely to find a really good sounding tube amp in the 50-60 watts or under than 100 watts or greater.

Realize that because dB is logarithmic doubling power from 50 to 100 only gives you 3dB. My last speakers Talon Khorus at 90 dB were pushing my 50 and 60 watt tube amps hard when playing loud. But if I were to go to a 100 watt or greater amp it wouldn't be worth it for all that money (and long term tube expense) for just 3dB. You're 2dB less. You are screwed. No one else here will tell you this cold hard reality.  

With speakers 95dB or greater though, now you can take your pick of really great amps that will absolutely kill anything SS and play nice and loud, and with even better bass. You experience this you will forevermore roll your eyes at all the rubes mindlessly repeating the SS bass mantra. Right. As if.

So speakers first, then amp.