Speaker load on tube amplifier...


Hello A'goners,

I have a used (two month old) Dennis Had fire-bottle arriving in a few days. I understand it works with a wide variety of tubes. It has been suggested that I go with KT-88's. This is my first serious tube product and I want to make sure I'm not doing damage when I hook my 4ohm speakers (3.1ohm dips) to the amp. The amp comes with the Golden Lion KT-88's and the 7581's by Tung Sol. Because of the impedance dip of the speaker, the KT-88's were recommended. Why is this the case? Why not 7581's? Which tubes are best for 4ohm nominal speakers and why is this the case? 

Thank you,
listening99

Showing 1 response by listening99

@atmasphere Super helpful, thank you. I have read your comments on speaker ohm rating many times. I comprehend your perspective, and I find it interesting that the engineer of my speakers praises the 4ohm load, for other reasons. It seems what is lacking here is a "whole" approach to the various designed decisions, which seems to be much more complex.

So, lower plate load is better, from what I'm hearing you say, and this is because it's easier on the amp, less current to control, less heat to wield? 

@millercarbon Do you have a good resource for describing the sound quality of various tubes? Maybe there is a breakdown here on A'gon.

@freediver Thanks for your informative post... the speakers are either 95db or 98db at 4ohms. There's some confusion in reading the stat. These are Tekton Moabs. So, I think the amp could fit...