Baby Steps back to Tubes.

Great reading provided by the link given by Rodman99999. As the amp question, should you go with tubes get one that has some power, which may in turn cost a pretty penny. If SS, get one with some real guts in the lower end. Having had a pair of NHT 2.9's, they do indeed thrive of power. Good hunting and good luck to you.

I understand what cine100 was trying to say and without getting away from my initial reason for the post I realise that tube watts do seem to have the perception of playing louder. Thanks Rodman9999 for the link. Some very good reading and info for sure. Because at this point (now anyway) I would like to keep the NHT 3.3's in my system and for the very reason that Pauly made of the variation of the impedance of the NHT's and the 87 db sensitivity I thought for these speakers anyway solid state would be an "easier" match other than an expensive more powerful tube amp(s).Thinking in the 2 to 3 thousand used or new region max, less if there are some good amps out there I,m not aware of. Cheers

Some things to consider: (http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=VISP331) (http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/vincent_spt100.htm)

Has2be. No amount of tube "power" will ever make up for big variances in impedance curve. If you want to use tubes you must have a tube friendly speaker.

On an over, over simplified level:

A transistor amp’s output goes up as the impedance drops i.e 100wpc into 8 ohm, 200wpc into 4ohm, 400wpc into 2ohm etc. etc. Obviously as the speaker impedance goes up, the output goes down. So speaker manufacturers will make certain that when their speaker’s impedance drops, the speaker is less efficient, and more efficient where the impedance is higher. That way the speaker’s output remains constant across the frequency range.

Tube amps do not react like transistor amps. Their output does not double when the impedance halves; in fact some of my amps put out more as the impedance goes up! And they lose the plot totally when the impedance drops too low.

So can you imagine the frequency response you get when you play a tube amp on a speaker voiced for a transistor amp? Not nice ...

Thanks Rodman9999, thats exactly the type of options I would like to know about . Not nessacarily the well known but some of the descent not so known brands.Thanks! Keep em comin! Pauly, I fully agree with you on tube friendly speakers and the importance of it when using tube amps. I like the NHT 3.3's and they are by no means tube friendly by any stretch of the imagination. Thats why I thought a good ss state or maybe a hybrid would be best for my system. I know if I went for an all out tube amp I would then be looking for speakers . Thats what I,m trying to avoid for now, till I can afford to make more changes. If I had the money the Reference 3A Grand Veena with 30-40 quality tube watts/ch would make me very happy !