With regards to the OP:
Since you are using tubes, its in your best interest to get a speaker that is at least 8 ohms (especially in the bass region) and easy to drive (no difficult phase angles, higher efficiency well into the 90s at least). Tube power is expensive, and to get the most out of it its a simple fact that high impedance speakers allow the amplifier considerably better performance.
In the case of amplifiers that use output transformers, the lower the impedance of the speaker, the less efficient the transformer becomes. This can actually result in a loss of bandwidth on the bottom end- in some cases by as much as an octave! You'll also find that the transformer runs cooler when driving a higher impedance load; the heat comes from the power made by the output tubes turned to heat. Its better when its turned into sound by the speaker :)
An often over-looked issue is the speaker cable- with higher impedance loudspeakers (such as 16 ohms) the speaker cable is relatively non-critical; with low impedance speakers the speaker cable is really important as is its length.
Since you are using tubes, its in your best interest to get a speaker that is at least 8 ohms (especially in the bass region) and easy to drive (no difficult phase angles, higher efficiency well into the 90s at least). Tube power is expensive, and to get the most out of it its a simple fact that high impedance speakers allow the amplifier considerably better performance.
In the case of amplifiers that use output transformers, the lower the impedance of the speaker, the less efficient the transformer becomes. This can actually result in a loss of bandwidth on the bottom end- in some cases by as much as an octave! You'll also find that the transformer runs cooler when driving a higher impedance load; the heat comes from the power made by the output tubes turned to heat. Its better when its turned into sound by the speaker :)
An often over-looked issue is the speaker cable- with higher impedance loudspeakers (such as 16 ohms) the speaker cable is relatively non-critical; with low impedance speakers the speaker cable is really important as is its length.