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A change in efficiency to the final sound

I have a p/p tube amp running a pair of 6Ca7's for about 30 watts per channel .
I have read here that p/p tube amps sound their best when they have to work a bit harder , as opposed to a SET amp that sounds best near idle .
My present speakers are claimed to be 92 db. eff.
If this amp is driving a pair of speakers rated at 85 db. efficiency , should it sound a bit better due to working a little harder or closer to its optimum level ?
Conversely , would the same amp sound a bit worse driving a more efficient speaker of 99 db. due to it working less hard or further away from its optimum level ?


Thank you

saki70
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
I have read here that p/p tube amps sound their best when they have to work a bit harder , as opposed to a SET amp that sounds best near idle .


Yeah, you will hear a lot of stuff like that. Consider the source: audiophiles. No greater propensity for overthinking, shooting own foot, not seeing forest for the trees, etc, exists. 

Anywhere.

So what happens is some guy hears some system sound really good, and... WHY? Can't just be that its a good combination. Has to be some technical reason for it. And being audiophiles, the more technical the better! Even if it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever!

The craziest thing I could think of is to get rid of speakers you like because they're too damn efficient. Now if there's something else you don't like about them, fine then. If you find speakers you like more that are less efficient, fine then too. But to change speakers only to make your amp "work harder" is nonsense on stilts. 

Which, again: audiophiles! Bet you five hundred quatloos before the day is out we have at least one saying I'm nuts and yeah you should get some low efficiency speakers, and maybe even tell you drive them with a SET. Because: Audiophiles!

If you like the way your amp sounds with your speakers, great. If you don't, fine. Figure out which you like better- speakers or amp- work on finding ones that sound better. SOP.

grinnell
1,087 posts
 
Still using the de Capos?
im using mine with a 4 watt decware mini torii and don't think im losing anything from when i used my PL2 with EL34s.  Now there are very different amps the PL2 is not as detailed at the Decware and the Decware has a fuller richer sound.  Can i rock out as much NO but Im getting up there in years lol
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cleeds
5,912 posts
 
millercarbon
Yeah, you will hear a lot of stuff like that. Consider the source: audiophiles. No greater propensity for overthinking, shooting own foot, not seeing forest for the trees, etc, exists. Anywhere.
What is with the recent spate of anti-audiophile rhetoric on this site? In another thread, we’re called "morons" and "fanatics."

Why the anger and bitterness? Who is served by this? If we’re such morons, why are these apparent adversaries so inclined to post here?

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,703 posts
 

It is my understanding (correct me if I’m mistaken ;-) that ALL tubes produce less distortion as power output decreases (at least, above say a watt). What IS true is that tubes have to be run at their optimum plate and heater voltages, etc. to perform their best. Also true is that the higher the speaker impedance, the lower the distortion.

And yes, lower distortion = better sound. Ultra-low distortion figures got a bad name in solid state amps in the 1970’s, with good reason. The means employed to achieve lower measured static distortion specs (excessive negative feedback, etc.) resulted in worse sound. That is not the necessarily and automatically the case in well-designed tube amps., as tube amp designers know that good sound is the result of a well-balanced design, not distortion specs alone.

millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Why the anger and bitterness?

Not angry. Not bitter. Not even all that insulting. Read it again: "overthinking, shooting own foot, not seeing forest for the trees"
These are all symptoms of a lack of perspective.

A pretty common fault, when you think about it. Alex Honnold, the only man to free solo El Capitan, when his fiancee asks about furniture looks at the bare floor and says, "I could sleep right there." Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize in Economics, says breaking windows adds to the economy. Its just awful hard to get real close to one subject and yet still maintain a healthy broad perspective.

That being the case, to the extent you draw attention to it, how's that anything but good?

tube amp designers know that good sound is the result of a well-balanced design, not distortion specs alone.

Well-balanced. That is indeed the key.
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