+1 Tvad. That has been my experience as well.
Assuming, as you alluded to, that the specific tube amp and the specific speakers are good matches. And in that regard it should be kept in mind that different tube amps differ widely in terms of output impedance, and correspondingly in terms of damping factor, while most solid state amps have near zero output impedances and relatively high damping factors. Thus for a given speaker some tube amps providing a given power capability may be suitable matches, while others providing the same power capability may not be.
In general, speakers having relatively high nominal impedances and/or relatively small variations of impedance as a function of frequency (i.e., relatively flat impedance curves) tend to be less critical in that regard than speakers not meeting those criteria. My impression is that the Salk speakers hilde45 has ordered fall into the less critical part of that spectrum, although I haven’t seen an impedance curve for them.
So choosing the right tube amp for a given speaker involves a bit more complexity than choosing a solid state amp, but if chosen properly the results can be very rewarding.
Best regards,
-- Al
Assuming, as you alluded to, that the specific tube amp and the specific speakers are good matches. And in that regard it should be kept in mind that different tube amps differ widely in terms of output impedance, and correspondingly in terms of damping factor, while most solid state amps have near zero output impedances and relatively high damping factors. Thus for a given speaker some tube amps providing a given power capability may be suitable matches, while others providing the same power capability may not be.
In general, speakers having relatively high nominal impedances and/or relatively small variations of impedance as a function of frequency (i.e., relatively flat impedance curves) tend to be less critical in that regard than speakers not meeting those criteria. My impression is that the Salk speakers hilde45 has ordered fall into the less critical part of that spectrum, although I haven’t seen an impedance curve for them.
So choosing the right tube amp for a given speaker involves a bit more complexity than choosing a solid state amp, but if chosen properly the results can be very rewarding.
Best regards,
-- Al