Concert Experience for $5k?

almarg, curious about a response of yours. You indicate that in the case of the GET Triton One's the amp wouldn't be a good match because (paraphrasing) the higher amp output impedance and the speaker’s variation of impedance would be an under-emphasis of the mid-bass region, and excessive brightness in the upper mid-range.

Why should the impedance mismatch yield any different sound characteristics in the T1s than if it were paired with an amp whose impedance was an exact (no such thing I know) match? If the impedance of the GE T1s are low with respect to the amps "preferred" impedance, this should manifest itself as additional current being drawn from the amp and not necessarily anything audibly undesirable. Granted, to much current draw is itself undesirable. 

I mix concerts professionally (generally smaller jazz, classical, or folkie stuff) and I can't imagine why anybody would want the "concert experience" in their home. The sound is "dual mono" (with light stereo reverb sometimes to make the crowd think they feel better) because if you used a stereo mix you'd have to make the crowd sit in the middle…uncomfortable to be sure, and although the live show can sound excellent (when I mix it always does), it's a different animal. Louder large shows might provide more bass kick than you're used to at home, but get a sub and that difference is covered, generally with more accurate tone. You don't want 115 db at home unless maybe you're drunk and dancing, in which case a small pro PA system is what you need…along with ear plugs.

Hi Gdhal,

I’ll begin my answer to your question by referring you to this Wikipedia writeup on voltage divider networks:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_divider

In the first figure, consider Z1 to be the amplifier’s output impedance, Z2 to be the speaker’s impedance, Vout to be the voltage seen by the speaker, and Vin to be the voltage the amplifier would be putting out if no load were connected (putting aside the fact that tube amps should not be operated without a load). Vin, in other words, corresponds to the voltage provided to the amplifier’s input at any instant of time multiplied by some gain factor.

If Z1 is significantly greater than zero (i.e., if it is 1 or 2 or several ohms, as is the case for most tube amps), and if Z2 (the speaker’s impedance) varies significantly over the frequency range, then since (as shown in the writeup):

Vout = Vin x (Z2/(Z1 + Z2))

... it can be seen that for a given input voltage to the amplifier the speaker will see a voltage that varies significantly depending on the frequencies which comprise that input voltage. In this situation (Z1 high, Z2 varying significantly as a function of frequency), the result (compared to a situation in which Z1 is negligibly small, as is the case with most solid state amplifiers) will be increased voltage and hence increased emphasis of frequencies for which speaker impedance is high, and decreased voltage and hence decreased emphasis of frequencies at which speaker impedance is low.

In other words, the frequency response of the signal provided to the speaker will be significantly non-flat.

The resulting tonal balance will still be essentially correct, however, if the amplifier’s output impedance is in the area of what the designer of the speaker was anticipating the speaker would be driven with. But since few amplifiers have output impedances as high as the OP’s, especially if its higher powered ultra-linear mode is being used (the main exceptions probably being some very low powered SETs), it is safe to assume that a considerable majority of speakers are not designed with the expectation that they will be driven from such high output impedances.

As I indicated previously, though, if a speaker has a relatively flat impedance curve (in contrast to the Triton One) its tonal balance will vary much less dramatically as a function of amplifier output impedance, and the choice of suitable amplifiers will be much broader, everything else being equal.

I’ll add that none of this necessarily has anything to do with the musical resolution of either the amplifier or the speaker. As I’ve said in a number of past threads, the ability to resolve musical detail and the ability to resolve hardware differences do not necessarily correlate with each other.

I hope that clarifies more than it confuses :-)

Regards,
-- Al

"I can't imagine why anybody would want the "concert experience" in their home"  

I live in Las Vegas and go to a lot of live concerts & shows.  As such, I've developed a special fondness for live recordings & concert albums.  

Some of my more memorable experiences:
I was the Chelsea Theater at the Cosmopolitan 20 yards from the stage at a Black Keys show - amazing!  When I go home & spin an imported concert album the energy and immediacy just isn't there.  That concert probably had the most energy of any show I've been to.  The floor was literally bouncing.

I saw the Stone Temple Pilots at the Pearl theater a while back it was the absolute best sounding (rock) venue I've ever been in.  Just an amazing wall of enveloping sound.  (yeah, you had to be there)

I've seen Jack White live a couple of times.  He releases all kinds of live albums exclusively on vinyl.  Playing concert albums just doesn't come close to making me feel like I'm in the audience - that's what I want to feel when I listen to those recordings.  I want to close my eyes and smell stale beer.  :-)  

I know I'll never get that chest-cavity shaking feeling you get at a rock show, but I want to find a way to recreate some semblance of the energy and dynamism of a live show when I listen to my live albums.  

almarg, thank you for the detailed and informative response. Yes, I suppose it does clarify as opposed to confuse the issue. Also appreciate the wikipedia article supporting what you have stated.