Carver 275 Crimson tube amp --- any feedback appreciated

Ricky,
Excellent point.  I have recently become aware of the implications of speakers' impedance, which can be a different aspect of performance than simply considering speakers' sensitivity/efficiency (I can never remember the difference between the two).  To wit, my pal has a Don Sachs KT88 tube amp driving 90 db efficient speakers, but the speakers became distorted at maybe 80 db... just crapped out.  Well, it turns out the speakers were nominally 4 ohm speakers that dipped to 2.8 ohms and the amp simply ran out of gas.

Well, we played the same tube amp with my 12-ohm Spatial Audio speakers and they were simply glorious, far far more musical in all respects, including LF extension, than my Platinum-upgraded 100 wpc McCormack DNA .05 ss amp, which I think it is brilliant amp.  By the way, my pal who brought the Don Sachs amp to me to audition ended up purchasing the Spatial Audio M3 Triode Master speakers for his system.  The tube amp and the Spatial Audio speakers are a wonderful match, he informs me. 

Again, the point to understand is that that speaker impedance compatibility is a fact to be recognized, particularly if one is considering a tube amp for one's system.  Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that most ss amps are more compatible with low impedance speaker loads while tube amps are more compatible with higher impedance speakers loads.  

Correct. Tube amps primarily work best with speakers that have a higher sensitivity - in addition to a flat impedance curve. Many speakers have dips and spikes in the impedance curve at various frequencies that are not mentioned in the specs. The marketing material may just say that the speakers are a ’nominal’ 6 ohm impedance. But, that could be a median average. It could be misleading when trying to match an amp with speakers on paper vs auditioning.

@steakster 
I know this is an old post but it’s interesting you mentioned tube amps works best with speakers with flat impedance curve. I was told that electrostatics like Martin Logan are best paired with a tube. However these speakers have very volatile impedence and could often drop very low, as I heard. Is there any truth to this? Thanks! I’m trying to decide whether to get my MLs a tube amp, but don’t wanna spending the money if it’s meaningless. 

@angelgz2   The best place for your amp question would be at the Martin Logan owners forum. Even with their feedback, I still would recommend auditioning before purchasing.

When I had e-stats years ago, I drove them with a 300w/ch SS amp - that double-downed. The speakers sounded pretty good - even with a dip down to 2ohms. I wanted to try tubes - so I purchased a pricey pair of triode push/pull monoblocks. With these monoblocks, the e-stats sounded slightly worse than coming from an empty Campbell’s soup can. I tried a pair of Speltz Autoformers, no improvement.

At an audio show, I visited a room by Roger Sanders Sound Systems. His 10e e-stats were driven by his Magtech amps with room correction. The sound was absolutely stunning. Far better than any other e-stat (and many other speakers) that I’ve heard. But, having owned e-stats in the past, the extremely narrow sweet spot was a deal-breaker. If you leave the listening chair, they just don’t sound good off-axis.

Angel,
Steakster has good advice.  I think you have it backward:  e-stats are power hungry and normally benefit from powerful ss amps.  The new ML's with internally powered subs are a different kettle of fish, but normally powerful amps like the Sanders amp are best employed with them.