Speakers that are good with tubes


I have see several recommendations against tube amps powering certain speakers. But which speakers are known to really like time amps, especially high powered tube amps?

lewl28

@bigkidz 

Out 40wpc mono blocks drove the YG Acoustic Carmel speakers with ease and outperformed the $16K Class D amps no contest.

I do not doubt your outcome. I’m a very firm believer in the sonic attributes of high quality class A amplifiers. Not to everyone’s approval these days given the “Green” mindset prevalent in these times. I suspect that your class A tube amplifier sounds fantastic!

Charles

@tubeguy76  I am still trying to figure out Ralph's paper on the issue, and other sources - I am happy to stand corrected.

When I bought my EL34 push-pull Class A tube amp from the bloke who made it he specifically asked what ohms my speakers were.  I said rated at 8, with a brief dip to 6 somewhere.

That's fine, it won't stress anything.

Because he also included a 4 ohm tap in tediously hand-winding the transformers.

In the foreseeable future I may consult with him about making a tube pre-amp, and I'll be much more prepared to ask him difficult questions and actually discuss issues.

 

I bought a tube amp that had 4 ohm taps and speakers that were 6 ohm nom. Speakers had an impedance dip into the 3 ohm range. Ran them for the first year on the 4 ohm taps and they sounded fine. Then for kicks, tried the 8 ohm taps and never went back.T

...Until I bought Tannoys. Much better match for my amp.

Consider a high quality single driver speaker like Voxativ, if you’re searching for musical speed and detail — especially with 300B driven SET. Zu audio can be driven nicely with a low power amplifier but offers more bass with its powered woofer.