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Efficient, affordable speakers for SETs?

Ever since I discovered the magic of SETs, I have been hooked and could never go back to “sand amps” or non SET tube amps. (Yes, I know they are dirty and colored but I love the soft clipping!) The seemingly endless problem has been finding speakers that not only function well with just a few watts of power but get the most out of the limited power and also sound real. Tried Lowthers in Medallion enclosures and some other enclosures but ultimately not very natural or satisfying. Realized that a two way speaker properly crossed over to a tweeter was best and found a speaker that was specifically designed to play with 8 300B watts. The Tetra 506s (worth checking out Tetraloudspeakers.com and the great musicians who use them!). Does anyone know other two way speakers designed to work well with SETs?
mglik
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,831 posts
 
I had some experience with PHY drivers. The Ocellia speaker uses them and is very sensitive but not dynamic enough. Audio Note UK are an industry standard for decades but their output is also somewhat limited. The Ocellia and AN seem good for classical and Jazz.
@mglik FWIW its impossible to design any hifi audio product to favor a certain genre of music. We did have a pair of Ocellias here and I personally found them to be way too colored due to cabinet resonance. However the drivers themselves are quite good and as dynamic as any high efficiency 'full range' drivers.
There’s also a somewhat hidden corollary, here, which is that I ended up multiplying my error by saddling a low power / high output impedance amplifier with a 12” or 15” woofer.
@jim_hodgson If the speaker is designed to work with amps of high output impedance then no worries driving larger speaker cones at all. IMO that is one of the bigger myths around SETs and large cone speakers. Our amplifiers have similar output impedance to SETs, and have no worries with the dual 15" woofers in the Classic Audio Loudspeakers (which are 97dB). The impedance usually plays a far bigger role!
If you're so dead set on running an SET amp, then the only real answer is the K-horn.
I would regard this as inaccurate to say the least. JBL made many speakers, amongst them the Hartsfield, which have similar efficiency. The Hartsfields were designed for corner operation (although the reproductions made by Classic Audio Loudspeakers seem to work quite well when not placed in corners). When I was in college I had a set of Altec corner horns; there are also things like the AvantGardes and many others in high end audio. But it is this kind of efficiency (+100dB) that you really want to be looking for if you want the most out of an SET. You're not going to get there with higher powered SETs as the demands of the output transformer design are prodigious; the price you pay for increased power is reduced bandwidth, to the point where in most cases the term 'hifi' can't be used.

rodge827's avatar
rodge827
619 posts
 
The Charney Voxativ speakers are very interesting. Looks like the cheapest way to get into the fabulous Voxativs!                                   
Yes the Charney’s are cost effective versus the Voxativ offerings. Here's a little secret Charney sounds way better at 1/3 the cost! I had the opportunity to listen to the Charney Companion with  Voxativ AF2.6 drivers against the Ampeggio. No contest! The Companion bettered the Ampeggio in every area! 
If you can swing it and your room is large enough the AC2.6 is the way to go.  The 8” driver will give you more all the way around. 
mglik OP
908 posts
 
FWIW its impossible to design any hifi audio product to favor a certain genre of music. 
Hey Ralph!
Thanks for your input.
I certainly respect your decades of a business significantly focused on
all things audio and, significantly, matching amp with speaker.
I understand that there are many technical factors matching components and speakers beyond sensitivity and impedance.
My technical knowledge is limited to common sense and my ears.
I, mostly, disagree with this statement. Regarding amp/speaker, one cannot say that a high powered amp is not designed to supply the juice needed for high sound output. And that a large speaker system is not designed similarly?
Another point is that I do believe, especially limiting the low frequency output of my 90db flat 8 ohm Tetra 506s with a good Rel sub gives me "the most" out of speakers. Taken into consideration that the voicing of the speakers was with 8 watts of 300B. I do understand that a 100db+ speaker is an entirely different story from a physical/tech perspective.
Surely, an Ocellia is not a "Rock and Roll" speaker and is more suited to the dynamics of Jazz. Is it not greatly contingent on a speaker's physicality?
Just a personal note to you, maybe 30+ years ago I called you thinking of buying one of your amps to power my Quad 57s. You graciously turned me away saying that my then Bedini 15/15 was a great amp for the 57s. A quite belated thanks!


smrex13
645 posts
 
Check out Contrast Audio (sold through highend-electronics).  I had a pair of their bookshelf speakers with a 10-watt amp, and they were excellent.  I would go with a floor standing model, as the bookshelf model didn't have enough bass, despite their specs.  
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,831 posts
 
I, mostly, disagree with this statement. Regarding amp/speaker, one cannot say that a high powered amp is not designed to supply the juice needed for high sound output. And that a large speaker system is not designed similarly?
Another point is that I do believe, especially limiting the low frequency output of my 90db flat 8 ohm Tetra 506s with a good Rel sub gives me "the most" out of speakers. Taken into consideration that the voicing of the speakers was with 8 watts of 300B. I do understand that a 100db+ speaker is an entirely different story from a physical/tech perspective.
Surely, an Ocellia is not a "Rock and Roll" speaker and is more suited to the dynamics of Jazz. Is it not greatly contingent on a speaker's physicality?
Just a personal note to you, maybe 30+ years ago I called you thinking of buying one of your amps to power my Quad 57s. You graciously turned me away saying that my then Bedini 15/15 was a great amp for the 57s. A quite belated thanks!
@mglik At the time I was under the impression that the old Quads were a too variable load for our amps. Boy did that turn out to be wrong! One of my employees had the 57s and it turned out they worked great with our amps- as long as you were careful to not overpower the speaker.

Your opening comment in the quote above doesn't seem to address my comment- which was only that its impossible to build a high fidelity component to favor a certain genre. What makes a component good at one genre will make it good for another- whether that is classical, jazz, rock, metal or ethnic folk.


While the Tetra may have been 'voiced' on an SET (whatever that means) the simple fact is that even with a sub, unless you are in a smaller room 8 watts would not be enough power. If that's what you are running, you might want to try a more powerful tube amp- perhaps a push-pull amp with about 30-60 watts, since the speaker appears very tube-friendly. You may find they wake up in a good way you did not expect!

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