Speaker/Driver plan for a SET

[Rickysa]

Before I get hollered at about a tube () quick background:

I bought my first audio gear a few years ago and became discouraged:

“all because of the mistake of trusting in subjective opinions” (due to not having the opportunity to audition anything) “not verified by scientifically-controlled tests.” (because I didn’t know there were any to be found) (Jim Taylor 09/02/24, from here) italics=mine

Now, gladly, I’m here (a science nerd by training and love measurements).

Why a tube? I’ve spent the last little while refreshing dusty physics teachings and diving deeper into electrical theory while learning about tube circuits. I’d like to introduce my kids to audio that doesn’t come from earbuds, and I figured building them a SET amp and some speakers may pique their interest.

So, given a blank slate other than 10-ish (tube-distorted) watts…what speaker design/driver(s?) would you recommend for them to take to their apartments?

I'll be building them from scratch, so any design is good (I've been reading the LDC but not ready to design my own, yet)

 

[RickS]

Welcome to ASR!

Could build a solid state amp for more contemporary learning experience. The amp camp amp is likely the best documented simple kit. See neurochrome.com for some good examples as well. In any case, diyaudio.com has a couple of tube designs. I recall something recent on AudioXpress as well.

Speaker kits are easier. The Dayton C-Note is a decent value and their BR-1 might be the best documented kit for learning speaker fundamentals.

 

[Rickysa]

Thanks for the welcome!

I thought about doing a SS amp but the nostalgia and "gee-whiz that's different" of the tubes got the better of me...plus I have a 2A3 build under my belt and am antsy to try another one. Not to mention, when studying about circuitry basics I think I bruised my brain a bit by the time I got to BJTs and MOSFETs.