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Amp more important than speakers?

The common wisdom seems to be the opposite (at least from speaker makers), but I have tried the many speakers that have come thru my house on lesser amps or my midfi A/V receiver and something was always very wrong, and things often sounded worse than cheap speakers.
On the other hand, I have tried many humble speakers on my my really good amps (& source) and heard really fine results.

Recently I tried my Harbeth SHL5s (& previously my Aerial 10Ts, Piega P10s, and others) on the receiver or even my Onkyo A9555 (which is nice with my 1985 Ohm Walsh 4s, which I consider mid-fi), and the 3 high end speakers sounded boomy, bland, opaque.

But when I tried even really cheap speakers on my main setup (Edge NL12.1 w/tube preamp) I got very nice results
(old Celestion SL6s, little Jensen midfi speakers).

So I don't think it's a waste of resources to get great amplification and sources even for more humble speakers.
My Harbeth SHL5s *really* benefit from amps & sources that are far more expensive than the Harbeths.

Once I had Aerial 10Ts that sounded like new speakers with vocals to die for when I drove them with a Pass X350 to replace an Aragon 8008.

Oh well, thanks for reading my rambling thoughts here...

So I think I would avoid pairing good speakers with lesser amps,
rgs92
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
If you fall in love with a speaker, then find an amp to match it.

There are no rules it must be a tube amplifier. Unless you manufacture tube amplifiers.

Speakers first.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
There are no rules it must be a tube amplifier.

Audiofeil, I am sure you are aware that there are many people who don't agree with you on this. That is why the tube industry continues to exist 50 years after being declared 'obsolete'. However, we do agree that the amp must match the speaker.
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>07-01-11: Atmasphere
Audiofeil, I am sure you are aware that there are many people who don't agree with you.<<

Agreed and many who do agree with me.

My point is there are no rules that it must be a tube amplifier.

The market clearly supports my point.
kclone's avatar
kclone
601 posts
 
I think the room/speaker interaction has to be addressed first and foremost. Some speakers work better in certain types of rooms or some designs are better for small rooms ect..I was always trying to fix my system with new gear. I could take that same stuff and drop it into my bedroom system and it sounded WAY better. I could put cheaper speaker and electonics in the bedroom and it sounded way better than my higher priced stuff in my main system. The room acoustics in my bedroom are just that much better than my main listening room. So there was nothing wrong with my speakers or electronics becuase they worked so well in another room. It just goes to show how important addressing the room. Otherwise you can drop different speakers and electronics in and really not get any closer to goals for the kind of sound you want. Just my 2 cents.
inna
5,245 posts
 
It should be possible to match any good speakers to tube amps. If it is not then those speakers are either junk or designed for a very particular application.
As a sidenote. Someone who likes both tubes and B&W is..well..unusual individual.
Yes, of course it's the synergy. We are all in agreement here.
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