RF-82II with SET amps

[tube fanatic]

My nephew wants new speakers to use with his 1.5wpc SET amps and was wondering if anyone has had experience using RF-82IIs that way.

[Ski Bum]

Someone else here used the analogy 'pulling the boat with the Prius'. Driving those full range with so little power is in that territory. I'll bet it would sound sweet for less demanding material, but would fart out for big full-orchestra climaxes.

Then again, I took my similarly powered amps to the store to try with RF62's, and it was louder than expected. It depends on what his expectations are.

edit: Hey, you recommended Decware in another thread. Is your nephew's amp one of theirs? The amp I took to the store was one of theirs, probably the same model (SE84C). While they sound fantastic within their limits, their power is quite limited. I've since moved to bi-amp setups, relieving them of any bass duties, and in that application they work extremely well.

[tube fanatic]

The analogy would be valid under certain conditions. But, he listens near-field only at around 6 feet from the speakers, and his maximum spl would be 85db at the listening position (most often it's in the low to mid 70s). The amps are not Decwares, but similar in that they use triode strapped pentodes (6BG6s). The main concern is the impedance curve of the speakers. We have been trying to find out just how far from 8 ohms it strays, but that info seems to be a closely guarded secret! If it stays around 8 ohms he'll be in fine shape. Anyone on here have access to that info?