Speakers for triode tube amps

25wpc? I have had the neighbors complain about the loud music while I was using a 1.5 wpc 45 triode.

It’s not simply a case of choosing a speaker with a high efficiency rating. You need to choose a speaker with a very benign impedance curve. IOW, don’t buy anything with multiple drivers. The more drivers, the less appropriate the speaker is for tube amplification.

Yes yes, I know the forum Einstein has speakers with dozens of drivers which he cannot stop crowing about. But reality is he is not Einstein but a bad a rendition of Helen Keller.


Go for either single driver speaker, or if that is too radical for you, an efficient two way floor stander.

Tektons are solid for tubes.  I own,.  Really there is no more efficient speakers out there then Klipsch as well.  Heritage line , Horns. Cornwalls, Fortes if you have the right room, Hersey .  They match wonderfully with tubes.   You have to like the sound of horns but the match with tubes is amazing.  Tekton will work hate to say it as everyone jumps on Miller but the product is solid and fraction of the cost of so called high end speakers.

Cost to build isnt anything near what these folks charge for gear its insane.   

Indeed. Ignore the haters. We had several different amps here driving my Moabs- 20wpc Raven Blackhawk, 50wpc Melody integrated, 37wpc Bel Canto SET amp. The sound with all of them was impressive, with the Bel Canto SET being awesome in terms of dynamics, impact and slam. Just insane, especially considering that with the SET amp it was just the Moabs we had no way of driving the subs when using that amp.  

Then I heard Tekton Pendragon XL driven by the same 37w Bel Canto SET amp, huge presence and volume, incredible bass! Tekton are extremely easy to drive and easily outperform speakers costing multiples more. 

Tekton are extremely easy to drive and easily outperform speakers costing multiples more.

The market apparently disagrees on the price element. Tektons are certainly no best kept secret and have been very actively discussed, advertised and reviewed over the years. If the speakers were valued by the market at "multiples more" then that's where Eric would price them.  The market is the final arbiter in terms of setting price.  It's quite obvious they are fairly priced where they are and probably do punch a bit above their weight...but this talk of "multiples" is obviously nonsense that the entire market and even the owner of Tekton doesn't believe or they would be priced as such.  Eric knows full well the answer to the question of how many Moabs he would sell if he changed the price to $30K tomorrow.

@pauly,
"It’s not simply a case of choosing a speaker with a high efficiency rating. You need to choose a speaker with a very benign impedance curve. IOW, don’t buy anything with multiple drivers. The more drivers, the less appropriate the speaker is for tube amplification."

In general that advice has some merit but not as a blanket statement.
I was able to drive a friend’s Tekton Double Impact quite effortlessly with my 8 watt SET amplifier. The speakers are a nominal 4 ohm load and I suspect that the impedance curve is pretty flat and avoids steep and challenging phase angles.

I agree with @searchingforthesound, Tekton is a solid value/sounding speaker. It is not junk nor in my opinion is it a world beater. At their cost point they are very competent and competitive. My friend subsequently replaced his Double Impacts with Omega Audio speakers (Ironically a single driver speaker) which he feels sound better. But my point is the multi-driver Tekton was not a hindrance for low power tube amplifiers. Horses for courses.
Charles