Current amp vs Voltage amp

Bifwynne,
I have zero interest in any speaker war scenario, we all have our individual taste and there`s no point in taking that any further. I thought Bombaywalla`s opinion on speaker design-engineering choice/compromise was worthwhile and logical.
Regards,

I think that Bombaywalla may, somewhat understandably, have misconstrued Bruce's situation. AFAIK he hasn't had nearly as much interaction with Bruce and his speaker/amplifier concerns as I (and Ralph) have had. Bruce is certainly not in "speaker hell." He's just trying to develop as good an understanding as possible of the speaker/amplifier interface, which is certainly to his credit, and something that is likely to be helpful in the future.

Bombaywalla, I would add just one point to your IMO excellent list of reasons for the proliferation of speakers having problematical impedance curves. And that is that there seems to be a tendency among many audiophiles to equate the ability of a speaker or other component to resolve hardware differences with its ability to resolve musical information. Thus, if on the basis of reviews, user comments, etc., a speaker acquires the reputation of making amplifier selection particularly critical, it will in the minds of many audiophiles create an expectation that it will resolve musical information and detail better than a speaker for which amplifier selection is less critical. While of course, as this thread makes clear, that is by no means necessarily the case.

Best regards,
-- Al

P.S. Bombaywalla -- I think it's unfair to imply that the S8s are junk.

Bifwynne, sorry I never intended to call the Paradigm S8s to be junk. In my post I meant to say that the marketplace is littered with speakers with very mediocre/poor performance. The comment was not intended to single out any one speaker product. I have NO intention of starting a speaker war here; I would like to be very clear on this point.

OTOH, I think Bombaywalla's comment about me being in "sonic hell" may be a bit extreme.

LOL! :-D OK, it might have been.
But, I took my ques from the following statements Bifwynne wrote in his various posts:

I drive a pair of Paradigm S8s (v3) with an ARC VS-115 tube amp. I can't think of a worse match because the S8s have one of the most wacko impedance curve and phase angle plots....

I was feeling a bit down....

If I was to flip speakers, I probably would opt for the Revel Studio 2s, but would need to also flip for a high quality tube amp, maybe the new Ayre VX-5. Dunno???

- there's confusion! He's thinking of flipping equipment. I inferred (now I know incorrectly) that he was hitting rock-bottom w/ his present components.

Bombaywalla, I would add just one point to your IMO excellent list of reasons for the proliferation of speakers having problematical impedance curves. And that is that there seems to be a tendency among many audiophiles to equate the ability of a speaker or other component to resolve hardware differences with its ability to resolve musical information. Thus, if on the basis of reviews, user comments, etc., a speaker acquires the reputation of making amplifier selection particularly critical, it will in the minds of many audiophiles create an expectation that it will resolve musical information and detail better than a speaker for which amplifier selection is less critical. While of course, as this thread makes clear, that is by no means necessarily the case.

well-said Al!
best regards.

No offence taken Bombaywalla. Actually, in some of my private communications with Al and Ralph, I too mused that it would be a great boon to the hobby if speaker designers could, with the flip of a switch, change the electronic crossover for SS or tube application. It might require an external crossover -- dunno. But I too take great exception when the industry doesn't disclose the simple fact like Revel, that "so and so speaker is designed to be driven by a [___] amp." Further, where are the tube amp manufacturers? No disclosure there either. The modus operandi is plug and play. IMO, bad form.