Speakers that are good with tubes

I have to disagree with some of the comments above.  There are plenty of great tube amps available.  Depending on the design is how they will handle bass, dynamic swings, and difficult speakers loads.  The Class A tube mono blocks we build have out performed many SS power amps rated at much more WPC.  Current is one determining factor.  At 40wpc they will power most anything even the YG Acoustic Carmel speakers better than the 300wpc class D amps at $16K the person had driving them.  So making general statements means very little unless you have the experience and knowledge in the specific area.

Happy Listening.  

I recently read an article that discusses this very topic. It is very enlightening because it dispels the myth of sensitivity ratings and explains why that is not what you want to consider. When I get home and in front of my computer I will post it.

@bigkidz

So making general statements means very little unless you have the experience and knowledge in the specific area

So who’s doing this ? People have rightly posted that speaker impedance and phase angle characteristics are factors that require awareness and consideration. This is true as they greatly influence how successfully a tube amplifier will pair with them.

No one has disputed that there are tube amplifiers capable of managing difficult/challenging speaker loads. However, the question of the OP was what makes a given speaker “tube friendly “. People have responded in kind.

Charles

@lewl28 

Tubes do not like big swings in impedance

What @hilde45 said, sensitivity yes it is important but the speakers with tubes (in general) won't shine if there is either an impedance difference or in general impedance under 8 ohm.

I do have a pair of Klipsch P37F, nominal impedance 4 ohms, only my Atmasphere MA-1's were capable (@120W output) to get them to sound decent. Other tube amps couldn't do it well. The day I put a solid state amp with those speakers there was no turning back, these speakers are made to match a SS.

Note that I love tubes, I'm not comparing tubes to SS

Try whenever possible to look for speakers that are at 8 ohms and over.

James Romeyn / Duke LeJeune / Hans Looman were involved with a recent design presented at CAF of a phenomenal speaker which if I'm not mistaken will be very friendly to tubes but you would have to look more into the details.

Tubes and horns are lovely together.

Do buy the Speakers first so you are 

not painted into a corner.