Tube Match question for Tekton Speaker & Dennis Had Inspire Firebottle

I would think it would be similar to the situation with 4 and 8 ohm taps where one sounds slightly better than the other but other than that it doesn't really make any difference. Speaker impedance is as I'm sure you know nominal. Not fixed, it varies, sometimes all over the place. So hard to see having anything resembling a problem, but instead only a small sonic preference for one over another, like the way it is with the taps.

It's the way the valve is voiced. KT88 are just better at deep bass and EL34s are renowned for silky smooth midbass, mids and highs.. Good valve to 60 hz or so and they really start to struggle.  It's harder on the amp too 4 vs 8. Try the 8 ohm tap, won't hurt a thing. Might sound better still. 

Second that little amp may not have the oomph to push KT88 they way they need to be pushed. Two KT88 can hit almost 90 watts when set up in a push pull amp.

Regards

The "Firebottle" only has one 'tap.' Dennis claims the unit can drive speakers from 2 to 20 ohms. 

This amp runs low wattage: KT88's push 11 wpc; KT77's push 9wpc.

I assume this could prolong tube life. Also, the Moabs are known to be easy to drive, even at 4ohms. I had them on a Nuforce STA200 for several months and that amp isn't rated for 4ohms, and yet it had little trouble with the Moabs, barely ever growing warm.

Oh, single tap, early VTL was the same way. They settled on 4.9. The difference is push pull. It is still 9 watts class A I guess. 9 watts can get pretty loud pretty quick..

I'm running Mr. Hads V12r and Six Pac, both fairly low wattage considering the number of valves.

They will run 6V6,6L6,EL34,6550,KT88,KT90,KT99. 2-6 valves per rail, just have to bias at 25-35 mA per valve. 10-110 watts per rail. A or A/B, I love the way they sound pretty simple. I run small planars and ribbons, they are a push pull design, very fast. The speaker and amp are a great match in UL (push pull).. 

KT77 should make those domes sound pretty good. Your running the bass too on that little amp? Your Moabs aren't bi-amp/able?
A lot of drivers to push, wow..:-) I'm guessing they don't dip to low  and are a pretty easy load at close to 4 and maybe rising a bit..

Enjoy.

The Moabs in my place are not bi-ampable.

I keep thinking I'm just lucky because for my musical focus I rarely break 10 on the preamp dial. Things pump up into the 90db range very quickly, even on 9 watts, and I want to be listening to music in ten and twenty years with full range availability...

The bass element I'm shy to announce is ridiculously good and the only reason I very occasionally think of a subwoofer is that I like the "high" of buying amazing products. I often reflect that Eric Alexander (owner/designer for Tekton Designs) is a drummer and while he's known for his midrange tweeter arrays, his work with bass drivers is no small achievement.

I was not in a position to buy and evaluate components as I have been over the past several years. During my Vandersteen phase, I was impressed by the addition of a 205wpc Parasound amplifier, for example, but I didn't make any other significant change, but I assume Moabs are not the only speaker that respond to even slight changes in downstream elements.

The Moabs respond to everything I do. Initially, I had trouble with positioning and it took weeks to find a sweet spot for the bass, and then I finally DID find the sweet spot, and everything has fallen into place from there.

Subsequently, I upgraded the amp and the preamp, and the DAC and the bass changed with every move I made. Everything changed with every move I made.

The recent addition of the KT77's was yet another experience of more substantial, more textured, more accurately placed bass. The placement piece was indeed eye/ear-opening, with drum strikes arranging themselves - in one example - around the drum kit indicating tasty placement cues that were not evident before the change to the KT77's.

I tip-toed into DACs with a Schiit Modi 3, then the Modius, and then I experienced the MHDT Orchid and the latter was a massive education in the significance of tonal accuracy as it relates to both lifelike sound and the incredible beauty you might have guessed was hidden in the voices and instruments of world-class musicians.

This is to say, these people are selecting and playing the very finest musical instruments available and their voices can be as fine as any instrument you ever opened your ears to, and for a system to truly communicate the character and details of those instruments and voices is rare indeed.

Huge props to each of the artisans and associated engineers, creative minds, etc. responsible for my equipment:

• Dennis Had with his Inspire "Firebottle" and other amplifiers
• Aric of Aric Audio, for my preamp
• MHDT for the Orchid DAC
• Eric Alexander of Tekton Design speakers for the Moabs