Tubes and Speakers

[topazpaintball]

I'm planning to build a K12 with some basic cap mods this summer for personal listening.

Does anyone have recommendation for bookshelf speakers that go well with these pushpull tubes? ~8-10watts

[Steelrat]

Something very sensitive. The trouble with most bookshelf speakers is that the really push the small drivers to try and increase bass response, leaving you with middling to poor sensitivity. For 10-12 amps, you are going to want something in the high 90s to produce good volumes. Definitive Technology speakers are actually not a bad choice, as they have powered bass sections, leaving only the mids and highs for the amp to power. Its bass transients that tend to suck up a lot of power, mids and highs just kinda coast along.

If you don't go with a powered bass section, you can probably kiss anything near full-range goodbye. An uncle of mine runs a lot of audio setups, and one is a triode-powered nearfield setup. Sounds good and all, but nowhere near full-range enough for me. I just immediately run back to his Avante Garde horns driven by McIntosh tube amps. Sublime.

[topazpaintball]

Thanks for the info. Got any specific Definitive Tech in mind? It's kinda hard to navigate their site by their proprietary names. I was looking at Infinity Primus 150s just to keep the cost low, but sensitivity is 88 :(

[regal1975]

Thanks for the info. Got any specific Definitive Tech in mind? It's kinda hard to navigate their site by their proprietary names. I was looking at Infinity Primus 150s just to keep the cost low, but sensitivity is 88 :(


trying fr with bookshelves and that power will be impossible without some huge shelves...

thought about stepping up in size a bit and going with something like a fostex fr driver or efficient array