Tube Amp. Power ratings


I'm a solid state guy intrigued with tube setups....Is this like everything else in Audiophilia, Eye (or ear) of the beholder? ....Would you always have a tube pre-amp with tube amp? In general terms how do tube amps differ? Warmer?...mellower....And what about the output ratings? The tube ratings seem much lower than SS...Is that the nature of the beast?....
kippster

Showing 2 responses by cincy_bob

I would be interested in some commentary regarding how the fairly recent breed of solid state amps known as "chip amps" or "gainclones" fit into this discussion. As I understand it, chip amps perform best with a "friendly" load (i.e., efficient speakers with a benign impedance curve, no impedance dips below four ohms, and no difficult phase angles to negotiate). So I understand that, despite the fact that these little amplifiers are solid state circuits using semiconductor chips in lieu of transistors, the amps are generally best paired with speakers that were designed to pair with tube amps. I should note that I have minimal understanding of the more technical aspects of circuit design and amp/speaker interface. (I probably already made that clear with some gaffe in my narrative above.) I am interested in some perspective from the technical set on how best to choose speakers to pair with this new breed of amplifier.
Thanks for the clarification, Mr. Karsten. One follow-up question: You mentioned in your post above that pairing a speaker intended for tubes with a transistor amplifier will result in tonal aberrations. Given that chip amps are generally not suited to driving difficult loads and seem best suited to pairing with speakers that were most likely designed around tube amplification, does this pose a quandary when trying to match these amps to speakers? In other words, does this leave you with one of two less than ideal choices: (1) You can pair the amps with speakers designed for solid state amplification (causing heat and reliability problems due to low impedances - not a very practical alternative) or, (2) You can pair the amps with speakers designed for tube amplification (causing tonal aberrations due to the solid state nature of the amplification).

Am I missing something here? Is there a type of speaker that is ideally suited to pairing with a chip amp?