[cidiel]

very new to the tube amp world but here is what i intended to do so far, would be great if anyone has any suggestions or ideas where i may be going wrong.
For my office (small space) using E-MU 0404 as the DAC from computer into a Miniwatt tube amp out of tube amp into some martin logan motion 4 shelf speakers. are there any parts/steps i'm missing in this process?
thx

[srb]

That's all you need, component wise.  I have not heard the combination of miniwatt amplifier and Motion 4 speakers.  Users of the miniwatt N3 (3.5W @ 8 ohm) or S1 (2.5W @ 8 ohm) amplifiers generally use them with higher sensitivity speakers.
 
Although the Motion 4 has a higher sensitivity than the Motion 2 (90dB vs 86dB), that together with the fact that they are 4 ohm nominal impedance speakers, I do wonder if you would be better off with either a little more amplifier power or higher sensitivity speakers.
 
Steve

[cidiel]

thanks, was hoping that the set up was correct. using the N3 so i have the 4ohm optionality which is probably how i will start it off and see how it runs them. I was looking for speakers with better sensitivity but i had a hard time finding something in the bookshelf speaker world that was much higher than the 90db range. i originally tried testing my N3 on a similar set up using my paradigm monitor 9's but i think i blew one of the tubes and never got it going. wasn't sure if there was something i was missing from the set up.

[srb]

Not sure what the problem was in the minimwatt/Paradigm setup.  Maybe just a bad tube?  The Monitor 9 is a larger speaker, but is a higher sensitivity 8 ohm 96dB design.  Of course there is more to a loudspeaker load than "nominal" impedance.  The speaker's impedance curve across the frequency range as well as crossover complexity and phase angle shift will determine how easy or difficult a load it is.
 
In the "MiniWatt - Product Support Thread", http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=71184.0, the majority of people were using it with higher sensitivity speakers, but there were also those that tried it with their 85dB - 90dB speakers and reported that it drove their particular speakers loud enough for their application and need.
 
So, unless someone has tried your particular combination, it is largely speculation.  Let us know the results.
 
Steve