looking for best speakers to match with small 25w

I parted with my trentes as well ...

I now have a pair of Tonian acoustic monitors
Very similar to the trentes only faster and much more musical ..if that's at all possible

To my ears they are natural sounding and very realistic

overall i'm quite impressed

Trelja,

The Trentes are supremly musical and not the slightest bit forward or bright and also extremely forgiving and detailed beyond belief. They offer a very well balanced sound going down to about 45 hz and ignore their 88db rating they lit up with my 18 wpc Soro SE amp.

Bluemike,

I have not heard of the Tonian speakers but all the best to you and what you land with... I may finally be settling down on my stereo adventures but find it hard to give up the 'gon' :)

Philjolet, I'd gladly tip my hat to you if I gave them a listen and found myself in agreement with your perspective. They would certainly win my recommendation without hesitation. For now, I'll just give you the benefit of the doubt...

Though my experience shows scant few efficient loudspeakers that are on the relaxed side of the fence, I'm coming to terms with the opinion that room, amplifier, and cabling has perhaps much to do with the speakers sounding forward or not. Still, I say what I say from an "all things being equal" stance.

I want to acknowledge you bring up a stellar point in that the numbers game in terms of sensitivity and impedance curves should often be tossed out in favor of how things work in the real world. A lot of speakers are way too optimistic, and many a match is found in not reading ad copy but in listening.

In answer to there being few efficient speakers on the relaxed side of the fence, try the Living Voice Auditorium range range. They are detailed, musical, but certainly relaxed, too much so for many people. They are not immediately striking, but non fatiguing in the long term. I have been caught before, being struck by a dynamic piece of kit, I ultmately could'nt live with i.e Naim CD players. Nothing wrong with them, just not my long term cup of tea.
My Living Voice Avatars sound great with a 17 watt 845 SET integrated. If I did move on, I find the Coincident range a good home for tube lovers.