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I'm no engineer...

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on May 22, 2012 at 08:24:45

In Reply to: Not a dumb question, but maybe not the right one. posted by Charles Hansen on May 20, 2012 at 22:15:16:

but I think it to be true that some, many, most, whatever, of a tube amplfier's sonic characteristic is affected by the impendance of the speaker, which, I understand, is why many, if not most, tube amplifier manufacturers build their amplifiers with multiple speaker taps - so the consumer can choose the tap which most closely corresponds to his or her speaker's average impedance. I get that impendances can vary widely in the same speaker, but they all have an average.

Now, it seems to me, that in a powered speaker, with the in-house amplifier controlling the the lower frequencies, the speaker's impedance at those frequencies relative to the tube amplifier is either significantly less important or not relevant because the tube amplifier is not being asked to reproduce those frequencies. Presumably the in-houses' amplifier performance at those frequencies is the only relevant factor. Indeed, I think that many speaker manufacturer's market their speakers to tube amplifier owners on the theory that their tube amplifier will not be required to power the lower frequencies, and consequently they will be get the better bass of the in-house amplifiers, with the sonic characteristics that supposedly led the audiophile to purchase their tube amp in the first place - sweeter mids and highs. Now you don't need to put up with sloppy bass.

Consequently, that being true, then the reviewer cannot truly comment on the bass characteristics of the tube amplifier in that type of speaker. It seems to me that the characterisics of the relationship between the in-house amplifier and the tube amplifier is now a factor which must be considered, and if all three in-house amplifiers are different, then how is the reviewer to know whether he or she is hearing the in-house amplifier, the tube amplifier, or the interaction between the two. It would therefore seem impossible for a reviewer to draw any kind of a meaningful conclusion about the tube amps bass in such a configuration.

I've not read the review, but I must admit that a review of a tube amplifier's performance with nothing but powered speakers leaves me a little perplexed. Certainly there are audiophiles who use powered speakers, so I agree that it does have relevance. But waiting for access to a non-powered speaker would eliminate the need for a follow-up.

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