Tube amps and speaker ohms

Hmm, I was just about to buy my first tube amp but am unsure now, after reading this thread. I'd be grateful for any comments on whether the following would work together.

My speakers are B&W 804S's - 3 way vented box design. They are rated as having a 90db sensitivity and a 'normal' impedance of 8 ohms. But, the minimum is impedance is quoted as being 3.0 ohms. I know that some say they need a powerful amp to work at their best, but they have been fine with my 35wpc Class A Sugden A21SE.

The amp I was thinking of purchasing (to get a taster of tube amps) is a Yaqin MC-100B. This is a chinese brand and employs 4 x KT88 tubes. It is rated at 65wpc in ultralinear mode, or 45wpc (into 8ohms) in its standard mode. I'm not clear what ultralinear is all about, but do you think this combo would work?

Thanks for the responses - seems like a real friendly forum.

To some extent, it looks like almost any tube amp will represent a bit of a gamble as long as I retain the B&W 804S's. That's why I was looking at the more affordable chinese brands first, before I consider investing more.

I've not long had the speakers (love the midrange when paired with my Sugden, but the combo tends towards brightness), but would definitely consider trading them for some similar sized speakers that present an easier load and would widen my choice of amps. I always wanted to audition some Spendors but never got around to it - maybe I should now.

I think I'll probably go for a tube amp first though and just see how it works. Another amp I was considering is the Ming Da MC34-AB. Rated a little higher in terms of wpc, but using EL34's I believe. It seems to be more well known, so there there may be someone here who's tried one with B&W 8 series.

Above all, I don't think I want to stick with a transistor amp as, from what I've experienced so far, tubes seem to reproduce music the way I like. A smoother top end, an open midband and a full-bodied bottom end. I do like a powerful bass, so that may present problems given that my speakers appear to demand a lot of watts to produce that. To be honest, I also like the idea of tubes because I can then experiment with different tubes in order to 'fine tune' the sound - something I've enjoyed doing with my guitar and headphone amps.

Thanks for the advice. The Yaqin MC100B that I was looking at has 4 x KT88's and adjustable bias for each tube - access via marked holes in the top plate. I'm not frightened to get into the techie stuff so that appeals to me. A screwdriver and multimeter job, I guess?

Think I'll take a gamble on this one. Can probbaly get hold of one for approx £400 and if I get on with it then I can look to upgrade to something more classy.

Hi Paul. Thanks for your comments. I really do want to switch to tubes and will move away from B&W's. Probably shortly after receiving my first all tube amp!

Sticking with floorstanders that have a healthy bass output and are not bright or overly forward sounding, can you suggest any manufacturers/models I should potentially be shortlisting?

Cheers
David (have to invert my name and use divad as david is always taken as a username!!)

Don't know if anyone is still looking at this thread (which I found very informative as a newbie), but I thought I'd just report back now that my Yaqin MC-100B (4 x KT88's) has been with me for a couple of days.

It sounds amazing!! Okay, it's my first tube amp so maybe this is just me discovering that I prefer tubes to transistors, but I'm hugely impressed. A very full-bodied, yet smooth sound with lots of powerful bass...lovely. By the way, I didn't get to try the supplied chinese KT88's as one got smashed in transit. It's running with a matched quad of winged-C KT88's.

Anyway, to get back back on topic, it drives my B&W 804S speakers, which I believe are considered a difficult load, very well indeed. In 'ultralinear' mode (apparently 60wpc) there is plenty of volume (without clipping) available and the bass is very deep & powerful. There's a lot more of it than there was with my transitor amp, too...which is to my liking. No sign of the sound becoming confused and incoherent at higher listening levels. In 'triode' mode (30wpc), the amp still drives the speakers okay at lower volume levels, but I sense that it does struggle a little when asked to play louder . I prefer the character of the sound in ultralinear mode anyway, so that's of no concern to me.

But, even though I'm more than happy at present I guess I should still look to audition some alternative speakers, as maybe I just don't know what I'm missing!