High Sensitivity Speakers that work best with SS


In general, most all "high sensitivity" speakers I have heard or read about seem to do best with tube amps. Is that pretty much always the case? Anyone have experience with any "high sensitivity" speakers that in general work or sound better with SS amps than tube amps ?
128x128mapman

Showing 8 responses by unsound

I think it worth repeating; that is easier to achieve a flatter impedance curve with less efficient speakers than with more efficient speakers.
I suspect the biggest concern for matching ss amps with speakers that are typically used with tubes, is appropriate damping for the speakers being considered.
With all that said, it's probably easier to match ss amplification than tube amplification to most speakers.
It's a hobby and if you want to play around with different things, I get it, but I still stand by the idea that it is wiser to choose speakers first, and then getting whatever amps work best with them, not the other way around.
NVP, with all due respect, subsequent Watts don't compromise the previous Watt. While one might argue that matching output devices require more effort, the benefits that extra power capabilities offer in an effort to avoid proximity to clipping is well worth the effort. SS amps don't have the bandwidth concerns that come with extra power output that tube amps have.
I believe Nelson Pass's First Watt amps are basically kitchen table experiments done on an appropriately small scale. His more serious efforts($) for Pass Labs typically provide larger power output.
NVP, I would suspect that an amp working close to it's maximum capabilities might not necessarily perform optimally. Many high powered amps are biased at the low end towards Class A shifting towards Class AB as the power needs increase, avoiding the onset of clipping.
Most often perhaps, but even if peak power is only required say 10% of the time, that power requirement could be 10's if not 100's or even 1000's of X the typical amount of power used. Without such power, the system would be in distortion mode say 10% of the time.
NVP, I don't recall seeing a ? in any of your previous posts on this thread.