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Tube amps and speaker matching

Recently I read somewhere that tube amps are not good at driving speakers which have a wide impedance curve, say if the impedance swings from 3-20 Ohms across the audio range. On the other hand speakers with a narrow swing like 3 to 9 Ohms who be a good match for the tube amps. Is this correct? What is really the ballpark figure to make a judgment if the speaker and tube amp combination will be a good match.

Long time ago a fellow audiophile told me that as a rule of thumb the speaker sensitivity should be in the following range for a good match:

Below 90 dB/spl Solid State only
90-100 dB/spl Solid state or tubes
Over 100 dB tubes only

As for my personal experience I have heard a 12 watter drive the Dynaudio Contour 5.4 and was very listenable, similarly I have also heard a Cary amp with just five watts drive a pair of Maggies. I personally have driven a Quad 15 watt vintage tube amp with the Maggies. All these combinations to my ears sounded pretty listenable albeit one could not drive them hard as the amps were very low powered.

Can anyone enlighten me with their opinion?

Thanks
quadophile

Showing 1 response by david12

david12
1,454 posts
 
My 22 watt SET drove the Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers I was using at the time, with better grip and control than 180watt Karan K180 integrated. The Adagios from memory, were 89db sensitivity and dropped to a minimum of 6ohm impedence. So, not all watts are created equal, but I would agree that tubes do'nt match well with low impedence. I would say 6ohms ideally, as a theoretical minimum.
As always though, you get suprisingly effective matches which should'nt work and visa versa.
The moral, try before you buy.
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