MEP, you missed some things and made some incorrect assumptions in your opening post.
Really? Exactly what did I miss and what incorrect assumptions did I make? You basically rehashed everything you already said.
So I will try to clarify. Please refrain from Logical Fallacies as you have used in the past. I want to keep this as an intelligent debate. If you do not understand what Logical Fallacies are (such as the Strawman), please google the phrase.
I have to be honest and tell you that I’m very tired of you accusing me of “logical fallacies” and “strawman arguments.” I’ve already pointed out several times how you changed my words in a previous statement I made so you could turn around and accuse me of a strawman argument when there was none until you created a reverse strawman argument. And if you haven’t figured out by now that I did read and understand your paper and that it would have probably been a better choice not to be so condescending in your tone and remarks that we might actually have a more desirable conversation.
In short a Power Paradigm loudspeaker is any loudspeaker that can be driven with reasonably flat frequency response by an amplifier of moderate output impedance (1-20 ohms is typical; impedances above that we shall call 'high impedance', as there is also a current-drive method which has been mentioned by Nelson Pass but remains mostly a DIY matter; such amplifiers may have an output impedance as high as 80 ohms), wherein the amplifier has little or no negative feedback. There may be several means of obtaining flat frequency response; examples are port tuning (ex.: Audiokinesis) and midrange/tweeter level controls.
Ralph-Please tell us if there are any tube amplifiers with output transformers on the market with an output impedance of 5 ohms or greater. If you want to call an amplifier with an output impedance of 10-20 ohms moderate, do you mean moderate for an OTL? And even though I know you said 1-20 ohms would be considered moderate, I picked the higher end of your band and just left 10-20 ohms because that wouldn’t be considered a moderate output for a tube amp with output transformers nor is it common to all OTL amps either. Both the Graaf GM200 and the Transcendent Audio T8 OTL amps to list two examples have an output impedance of under 1 ohm.
There are several points to keep in mind:
#1 If you mix technologies you will get a frequency response error. That is to say that a Voltage Paradigm amplifier (one that is capable, IOW, of constant voltage response with respect to load impedance) will have a frequency response error when driving a Power Paradigm loudspeaker and vice versa. This can be because the crossover design rules for a Power Paradigm loudspeaker are different. The result can be that the drivers in the speaker (in the case of a dynamic loudspeaker) may be trying to reproduce material outside of their passband because the crossover does not work correctly with the amplifier (this is why many older horns have a reputation for being 'honky').
What speaker company advertises their speakers as “power paradigm” speakers and who advertises their speakers as “voltage paradigm” speakers? What high-end magazine or audio journal classifies speakers in this manner? Are there any? From time to time you will see measurements of a speaker by JA in SP and he will warn people the speaker under test will best be driven by a SS amp due to the demands it will place on a power amplifier. I think if speakers were strictly designed and built to be “power paradigm” speakers or “voltage paradigm” speakers, they would be advertised and sold that way and we would see special categories in TAS, Stereophile, and other magazines in their recommended component special issues for speakers in these categories.
SP ranks their speakers according to Class A, Class A limited low frequency, Class B, and Class C. Unless I missed it, there is no breakout for “power paradigm” speakers and “voltage paradigm” speakers. The only information/recommendation I see coming from the majority of speaker companies regarding amplifier choice are the standard efficiency, nominal impedance, minimum recommended power, and maximum recommended power.
If speaker companies truly designed and built their speakers to only be used by “power paradigm” amplifiers or “voltage paradigm” amplifiers, don’t you think they would tell us that? I think the real truth is that most speakers can be happily driven by either SS or tube amps with output transformers, but the number of speakers that can be driven by an OTL amp with an output impedance of 10 ohms or greater with high fidelity will be a much smaller subset of speakers that can be driven very well (meaning with high fidelity) by either a SS amp or a tube amp with output transformers.
#3 to obtain flat frequency response with a Power Paradigm amplifier you do not need a speaker with a flat impedance curve (although they can work just fine with that, and as a result, there is some cross over between camps). To get flat bandwidth, the overall impedance of the speaker has to be either a) high enough overall or b) designed to expect a certain behavior out of the amp if the impedance is lower. An example of this is the Wilson Watt/Puppy, which has a 2 ohm impedance at 2KHz because of a 2KHz trap which is intended to kill excess energy. This works great with amps that have a higher output impedance such as a tube amplifier, but not so great with a SS amp. The result is that the Watt/Puppy had a reputation for being bright (see #1 above). However it had no such brightness if used with the equipment for which it was designed.
First of all, I don’t know how a speaker could be “designed to expect a certain behavior out of the amp if the impedance is lower.” Unless the speaker company specifically recommends an amplifier for use with their speaker, how would they possibly know what to expect from all of the possible amplifier choices? With regards to the Wilson example you have used repeatedly, Wilson Audio does not market their speakers as power paradigm speakers that should be driven by tube amplifiers. Wilson provides some adjustments you can make to their speakers in order to accommodate SS or tube amplifiers.
#4 The Voltage Paradigm was developed in the late 1950s and into the early 1970s. Electro-Voice and Macintosh were leaders in setting up the technique, with the goal being predictable flat frequency response.
Do you have any papers you could reference with regards to McIntosh being leaders in the voltage paradigm? Since both McIntosh tube amps and all but their cheapest SS amps use output transformers, that puts them in the “power paradigm” camp and not the “voltage paradigm” camp. And it would only follow that if McIntosh amps were designed following the rules of the “power paradigm” that their speakers would be designed the same way.
If you want to avoid that you have to avoid negative feedback in the amplifier. This means that you have to find other ways to obtain linearity in the amplifier, and other ways to get flat frequency response in the loudspeaker. Enter the Power Paradigm. It is a lot easier to build an amplifier with good linearity with no feedback if you use tubes. So quite often tube amplifiers operate with little or no feedback. This results in a higher output impedance which must be dealt with differently and properly in the loudspeaker crossover and box (if there is a box) design.
I think it would be a more accurate statement to say that quite often SE triode tube amplifiers operate with little or no feedback. It’s far less common to see push-pull tube amps use zero feedback than it is to see SE amps using zero feedback.