Build location for tube integrateds

The amplifier/speaker matchup is so important, that I find it almost impossible to evaluate, or make claims about the sound of either component (any amp or speaker) indepently of that system context - one can come to assess either an amp or a speaker very differently based on the match between these two components. This makes evaluations more difficult, but it is the only way to find great sound and make recommendations IMHO.

I agree to an extent but with SS, which I'm familiar with, a house sound is there to one degree or another no matter which speaker is used with it. For example MF equipment always sounds the same to me. Other examples are Krell, ML, Ayre, Naim, Theta. Now within certain brands or brands that have a broad product offering I can hear differences. Probably the best example of this is McIntosh. Their low-end integrateds sound vastly different from their high-end separates. One other caveat - the speakers can't be different technologies, for lack of a better word. For example I wouldn't compare horns to regular dome drivers to electrostatics but as a generalization I can hear the brand sound pretty clearly. The difference the speakers make vis-a-vis the brand of amp is in degree not in kind.
regards, David

David, I agree with you. What I meant to suggest is that while their may be a consistent sonic siganture in an amp that is more or less revealed with most speakers, it is critical that the amp/speaker match well to allow that amp to sound its best, putting its best foot forward. This seems especially critical with tube amps that generally require smooth (linear) and highish impedance loads from the speaker. A moutain ridge impedance curve or dips below four ohms can severly hamper the perfomance envelope of a tube amplifier, which with the "right" speakers sound wonderful. Not having sufficient power to drive a particular speaker can also lead to conclusions about the amps performance that are really about the amps perfomance with that speaker. So while I do think there are basic sonic signatures to amps, their performance is critically bound to the speakers they are asked to drive.