High value, high efficiency speakers for SET amps

Ralph- I truly respect your skills, expertise and willingness to share. but I think perhaps your perception is a bit "distorted" (pun intended) because your reality is atypical. You design and build OTLs so you obviously love their sound and the cost to you is a lot less than for most of us (I know that they are not free, but still...). Same is true for speakers. High efficiency speakers are generally large and expensive. If not large, then usually very expensive. I assume that you can purchase them at an industry accommodation price. So in your case, you may not have to make the same compromises some of us have to. You can get realistic live volume levels and very good amplification. Some of us have to give up realistic live volume levels and settle for the special qualities of an SET or other lowered powered tube amp driving moderate efficiency speakers. If you consider a home system as a design problem, it's a trade off among ultimate volume capability, SQ, physical size, and cost. Believe me, I understand why you love your amps driving Audio Classics. In a BIG hotel room, with 60 OTL watts they sound fantastic. And rock!!! So maybe at home, an S-30 will do. But not all of us have $25-30K for speakers. I hope that this does not sound like sour grapes. I'm not whining. But unless you have F U money, we all make compromises. All day, every day. And that's fine. That's reality.

I've always found the Tonians intriguing. They are a different breed. Have never heard them but they have giant killer potential i suspect.

"Also, it is my experience that the deCapos, for all their virtues, don't handle the lower octaves all that well"

Out of curiosity Brownsfan, exactly which amplifiers have you listened to with the Decapos? My experience DOES NOT mirror yours at all with all the amps I've tried them with. Maybe you are using both the Dynamo and Franks as a reference and in comparison with the higher efficient Coincident monitors you are using? In which case I wouldn't at all be surprised. My room has been tuned with a spectrum analyzer to maximize the placement of my Decapos. The bass is very defined and clearly resolved, remarkable for a monitor on some program material.

Swampwalker,
You don't have to spend anywhere near that kind of money to reach the SPLs Ralph prefers. I could do that easily with my former transistor and PP tube amplifiers. I didn't want to listen that loudly. I am able to go 95-100 db easily with my current SET and speakers whenever I choose to do so . I've lack the desire to do this regardless of amp/speaker pairing I've owned. The determining factor is preference rather than equipment limitations.

Hi, Guys,
People seem interested in my impressions of the Lore Reference, so I'm happy to oblige.
I wasn't super impressed with them when I first connected them. The sound seemed stuck to the speakers and I kind of got this "home theater" vibe. Of course, this was with my friend staring at me expectantly with that "Well? Well?!" look on his face, so it was a little hard to concentrate.
I proceeded to play with toe-in and placement and things got a lot better. With some more pronounced toe-in and adjustment of distance between the Lores, the sound stage became large and immersive. The disappearing act wasn't quite as complete as what I'm used to with the De Capo's, but again, perhaps with more precise placement...
Additionally, the presentation of the Lores and the De Capo's is quite different. The Lore Reference seemed to splash the soundstage all over the front wall. The De Capo's tend to present a deeper, more layered presentation. This is admittedly hard to describe in words.
Instrumental and vocal tonality seemed very good with the speakers a little more dialed in to position. I remember being particularly impressed with the rendering of a tenor sax solo - sorry, I can't remember the track, but it really sounded like a saxophone in full bloom. I this regard I'd describe the Lore Reference as "exciting" speakers to listen to, and I'd describe the De Capo's as more "nuanced."
There were 3 main things about the Lore Reference speakers that, in my 5 or 6 days with them, I came to appreciate. One was that they could "go big" in a way that the De Capo's don't; this is not surprising since they are substantially larger and more efficient than the De Capo's. They seemed to liberate the Kit 1 and help it to sound like some kind of monster amp, allowing those huge output trannies to strut their stuff. For example, on one of my favorite CD's, an orchestral movie soundtrack, they presented the orchestra in a very "big" and convincing fashion.
Second, having a speaker in the room that at least bumps up against the bottom octave is great. And this richness extends into voices as well, bringing substance to alto and bass voices in background vocals very nicely.
Third, as already mentioned, the Lore Reference nailed some instrument tones and textures in a very convincing way. I was particularly impressed with how well controlled the bass was.
Three things about them gave me pause, though:
As I've mentioned, I found the imaging a bit vague. I also noticed that - as opposed to my De Capo's, which present a very stable image, images with the Lore Reference tended to shift noticeably when I moved my head to the left or right. Again and yet again, this may be a placement issue but it was troubling to me.
Second, they needed to be turned up to a decent volume level to sound fully "awake." I asked Eric about this and he told me that while the Lore Reference is more refined than the Lore or Lore 2.0, the Lore and Lore 2.0 sound much better at lower volumes.
Third, I am not certain that they are as refined and resolving as the De Capo's. I literally mean "not certain," as in, "I just don't know." I'd need more time with them.
No matter which speaker I ultimately choose, I'd give the Lore Reference credit for having motivated me to part with my De Capo's. I was pretty blown away by how big and exciting my SET could sound.
I recognize that at my price level, there will be compromises. I had always thought of my self as a "nuance" guy more than a "dynamics" guy, but I found the latter surprisingly compelling, which is why one or another Tekton model is still on my list of possibilities. I also recognize that all the speakers I'm considering provide a trial period, and I'm prepared for some trial and error in getting where I ultimately want to be.
I hope this helps. My De Capo's just sold and so I'm now in a better position to see what I can afford. I'll keep you posted.