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High value, high efficiency speakers for SET amps

Hi, Gang,
I know that some of what I want to discuss here has been dealt with in other threads, some of them quite old, but I wanted to see if any of you fine, knowledgable folks are willing to help update and consolidate some of this info in a more current thread.
I am currently running my new Audio Note Kit 1 300B SET amp with a pair of Reference 3A De Capo speakers. I think it's a fine pairing and I am really enjoying what the 300B SET experience brings to the table in terms of musicality and emotional connection.
Still the De Capo, while supposedly an easy load due to its crossover-less design (only 1 cap on the tweeter with the mid-woofer directly coupled to the amp), is "only" rated at 92 db efficient, and based on the most recent Canadian NRC specs, that rating may be optimistic.
So, I am toying with the idea of trying a pair of more efficient, deliberately SET-friendly speakers in my rig, something that might also play lower and with greater dynamic swing than the De Capo's. Note that the De Capo's have served me well and I am very fond of them, but I can't help but wonder if my lovely Kit 1 would shine even better coupled to a VERY easy to drive speaker.
Devore and Audio Note are obvious options - the O/96 looks really tasty. Unfortunately, both of those choices are out of my budget, which I'm thinking maxes out (for real) at around $1500. I am willing to consider used equipment.
Tekton Lore 2.0: This is the speaker that Eric Alexander of Tekton has recommended when we've spoken on the phone, based upon my medium-small listening room and amp. I've read the epic "Lore vs. Zu" thread elsewhere in this forum, and clearly Tekton has its enthusiastic fans here. What I wonder is whether the Lore 2.0 has the refinement of the De Capo in terms of resolution, sweet high end and imaging. Audiogon'er Mikirob has pointed me to the many rave reviews of Tekton's speakers and I'm definitely interested.
I've corresponded with the Sonist folks (who are super nice) but their really high-efficiency, nearly-full-range floor stander is out of my budget.
Then there's the "vintage" route, going after some used JBL's or other high-efficiency "classics" from the 80's (or '70's). I am not inclined to go in this direction, but mention it because it's been suggested to me.
And then there's Omega. I spoke to Louis some time ago and he recommended his 7XRS hemp cone model. But I know all the raps on single driver designs and I'm cautious, although I would like to hear from any of you who own or have owned Omega's.
I'm in no rush to make a switch but I am very interested in your thoughts. Thanks, folks!
rebbi
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Atmasphere:
Thanks a lot for the technical insights.

Charles:
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Almarg:
You always have so much to add to the conversation, thank you. Just to clarify, I do have some size flexibility here. I'm happy to move to a floor-stander and away from a stand-mount, which is why I'd look at Tekton Lore or one of the Omega floor-standers, which are rather boxy but not huge. My only real size limitation is that distance from the wall behind the speakers has its limits; I've only got about 1.5 to 2 feet to play with there.
As for lower end extension, my old Merlin TSM-mmi's were only rated down to 55 Hz, and I found them so lacking in punch and dynamics that I sold them after a couple of years. The De Capo's, rated down to 42 Hz, taught me that I needed a speaker to have at least a decent taste of low-end punch or I'll get bored and the music loses its foundation. Some of the candidates, like the Lore 2.0, are rated to extend quite lower than the De Capo - down to 30 Hz in the case of the Lore 2.0, which should be very satisfying in my room.

Jetrexpro,
Cooling it for awhile and saving up for AN speakers is also an option, certainly. I've only heard AN speakers at the California Audio Show but was extremely impressed with the demo at that time. Of course, Audio Note was fronting that system with multi-kilobuck AN electronics!
philefreak
423 posts
 
Look into Clayton Shaw's new line Spatial Audio. I have a
pair as well as my DIY Audio Nirvana offerings. Don't listen
to the " if you gonna go SET you need a super duper
ultra hi high efficient speaker crowd" With a 300B (6-9
watts) you'll be fine with 95 db up. Unless you like to
listen to above 96 dbs and if that's the case you don't need
a SET amp anyway!I would go with some sort of point source
system though.BTW, Charlesdad and Almarg are offering good
advise.
morningstaraudio's avatar
morningstaraudio
154 posts
 
These are the speakers I was referring too.
http://omegaloudspeakers.com/omegaoutlaw7-1.5.html
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,463 posts
 
"I would put it that deep bass extension, efficiency, and compactness of cabinet size trade off against one another in the design of a speaker. Sacrificing deep bass extension and/or making the cabinet larger (not smaller) will work in the direction of enabling the speaker to have greater efficiency."

That's a good way to put it.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,463 posts
 
I recall the Tekton owner guy indicating a preference for SS amps with his speakers. Don't recall why. Always check those impedance curves, especially at the low end to help determine just how much more of a challenge more bass extension might be.

One good strategy to help manage risk might be to only go with products that have been thoroughly and reliably measured by an independant source, like Stereophile.

My Dynaudio monitors go down into teh 40s as well and do bass and dynamics quite well in a smaller room. My smaller Triangles do not and bass and dynamics is where they first fall short, though with my current placement near the floor for re-inforcement with slight upward tilt on isolating stands, the bass levels are just right now in a slightly larger and livelier room.

You just never know until you try things sometimes.
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