High value, high efficiency speakers for SET amps

Hi Tubegroover,
Thanks for your kind comment concerning my system. I clearly understand your point and actually agree with you in regard to what's required to make an informed decision. Everyone doesn't listen to symphonic orchestral music so I don't view it as some universal litmus test. I do believe it's a significant part of Jetrexpro and Brownsfan listening (they'll correct me if I'm wrong). If this music is a must for a potential SET owner then
yes, certainly speaker compatibility is crucial to ensure a good match for proper reproduction of this fare. I frequently acknowledge that what works for me may/will not for another with different needs.

In my listening experiences low power amp/ high efficiency speaker is preferable to high power amp/low efficiency-sensitive speaker. I can only report what I hear and readily admit it is an individual matter. Rebbi has been down that road and has expressed more contentment and satisfaction with his current discovery and I for one can relate to this. A speaker like the Tekton or one of similar sensitivity will work splendidly with his amplifier. It seems he's been quite clear on that point.
Charles,

Tonight I was listening to Walton's viola concerto, Bartok's concerto for orchestra and some rock music shaking the floors. Finishing the evening with Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane serenading me - each of these genres is handled convincingly. Soothes my soul after a very hard day - life is good, jet

Jet,
Exactly! You and Rob make my point. Time to retire the SET limitation cliches.
Charles,

Charles,

A question for you that I'm genuinely curious about, which relates to this discussion. A while back you indicated that you planned to order Chesky's CD remastering of the 1962 performance of Dvorak's New World Symphony, Jascha Horenstein conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which I had recommended. If you have done so, how well were your Franks + Coincident speakers able to handle the dynamic peaks on that recording? And also, of course, what were your impressions of the sonics of the recording?

Best regards,
-- Al

Hey, Folks,
I find this conversation fascinating and appreciate all of your input.
Tubegroover, I love my Kit 1 and am sold on the SET "thing." It sounds more like music and gives me more pleasure than any other amp I've owned, including a Unison Unico hybrid, a Bel Canto Class D amp, and a pair of Manley push-pull mono-blocks. That isn't to say that any of these amps was bad by any stretch, but the Kit 1 made me smile and say "ah" like none of the others, if that makes any sense.
Now I am in an interesting position in terms of musical genres. I listen to a little bit of everything. I'm not a huge jazz buff but I played trumpet in high school and have a fondness for some big band jazz as in Maynard, may he rest in peace). I am not a huge classical aficionado, either, but one of my favorite CD's is a big orchestral music soundtrack that HAS to sound great or I get grumpy. ;-) I'm not a huge techno fan or electronica fan but my teenager turned me on to Lorde and the synth bass "bombs" have to sound convincing. I'm not hugely devoted to raucous, hard rock, but when I play The Eagles' "Victim of Love" or Sheryl Crowe's "If It Makes You Happy," I want the guitars to sound as grungy as the recording engineer intended. And while I don't have huge piles of "girl with guitar" music, when I DO listen to Joni Mitchell or Ingrid Michaelson, I want to be transported to girl with guitar land.
You get the idea.
What I discovered with the Tekton Lore Reference is that it gives the Kit 1 the breathing room to "go big," really big, when the need arises, in a way that the De Capo's, as marvelous as they are, do not with this amp. I've also never had a speaker in my home that at least began to bump up against the bottom octave as the Tekton did, and found that to add a lot to the overall presentation. My only hesitations with the Tekton were:
* I found the imaging to be a little vague, and I'm kind of an imaging and sound stage freak (so sue me, as they say...) ;-) Of of course, some of that may be a positioning issue which, since I was borrowing them, I didn't really have the chance to dial in.
* I found that the Lore Reference needed to be "cranked" a little more than I'd like to really sing.
* Eric told me that the Lore and Lore 2.0 aren't as "refined" as the Reference, but that the Lore is much better at lower volumes. So, there's that old "tradeoff" thing again...
And as for your question about orchestral music, I will say that with the added breathing room that the more efficient Tekton's afforded the Kit 1, orchestral music sounded quite convincing. I don't mean first row at the symphony convincing, but "yeah, that’s what an orchestra in a big hall would actually sound like" convincing.
What's fun about this stage of system building is that there are so many choices out there, even discounting those I cannot afford:
There's Tekton (and the 7 or 8 speakers in my budget that they offer)
There's Zu Omen Mk. II
There's the Omega Super 7 XRS or (if I can swing the $) Super Alnico Monitor
There's Used Audio Note - there's one on Audiogon right now for $1500 but it looks like it's a little beaten up
And, if I really want to get freaky, there's Blumenstein Deluxe Orca with a matching sub or two...
So, we'll see.