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Highly efficient speakers to pair with my SET amp

Hi - I'm posting a little shyly, but with the hope that the collective wisdom and experience of Audiogon can help me chase down some speakers to pair with my SET amp.

I'm currently running Paradigms (Studio 60s) with my Almarro 318A (18 wpc). These are my first speakers, and the combination has kept me happy (and rolling tubes, swapping cables, and otherwise delightedly descending into happy audio oblivion) for a year or so. I've rotated among CD players and have had similar levels of happiness from a Jolida JD100 and a Njoe Tjoeb; both are lovely.

As you can see, I'm balancing sound I like with equipment I can afford. Of late, though, I've been seduced by a friend's setup, which features a much more powerful amp (tubed; same goes for his pre-amp), a higher-grade CD player, and much better speakers. I'm wondering if I can approach that level of bliss without (1) chucking the Almarro, which I love; (2) breaking the bank; and (3) ever getting into the 'edgy' danger zone (I definitely fall out on the sweet SET side of the listening world).

On said friend's advice, I'm thinking that the easiest place to start would be to seek speakers with a little more efficiency. I'm wondering if anyone might offer suggestions as to terrific, highly efficient speakers (~92 db?) in (here goes) the under- or near-$2500 range -- or might have another perspective to keep me from, um, 'borrowing' my friend's setup when he's next out of town.

Thanks very much,
Betsy
fungi
mrjstark
1,112 posts
 
Betsy (Fangirl....I am guessing),
no worries about your friend and his never ending pursue of "Audio Nirvana"........which but away, blinded him to the point that he's missing the chance of..........finding the real "treasure". :)
If you ever decided to go with Single Driver horns....just let me know and I am sure that something can be arranged to suit your taste and preferences.

Mariusz
gawdbless's avatar
gawdbless
1,235 posts
 
Keep an eye out for 'Oris' horns that appear every now and then on here and are very reasonably priced. You could do a lot worse than the offerings Johnk (KCS) has to offer.
david12
1,454 posts
 
18 watts and tube watts at that, is not flea powered, many conventional speakers are eminently suitable. My 22 watt SET for example, drives my 89db acoustic ZEN adagios, with better grip than the 180 watt SS amp I also used. In addition to the above suggestions, I would include some other small US names, Silverline and if you can find them Reimer, now sadly no more and Daedalus. If you are talking horn speakers, then the Cain and Cain Abby looks and sounds wonderful.
johnk's avatar
johnk
1,975 posts
 
Abbys a voight pipe not a horn;)
steidlguitars
90 posts
 
Hi All,

I am the evil friend that Betsy mentioned, the one who is intending to drive every last bit of pleasure from her listening experiences, and instead transforming those into a set of analytical exercises!

Even though there is some truth to having introduced Betsy to the potential for quality musical reproduction, I'd much rather help her along that path without making her too crazy. Like most of us, she does seem to enjoy the chase. Nice of all of you who offered suggestions with that same intention.

I think that Betsy's rig sounds pretty darned good, and as David12 suggested, her 18 watt amp drives her 89db Paradigms very well if not quite to ear-bleed levels. If I had to guess what she hears in my rig (that _might_ be missing from hers) are some degree of micro details and spatial information. In my own experiences, a good match between amplifier power and loudspeaker efficiency (and impedance) can help that.

Therefore, I suggested that she consider speakers that are somewhat more efficient (say 92db from 89db) and have an impedance curve that is kinder to tube amps. Her Paradigms are excellent for the money, but their impedance curve is far from ideal for moderately powered tube amps.

So, I don't think she necessarily needs anything in the 100db range--although I do think she would like flea powered SETs--and that she might find a nice improvement in speakers designed for tube amps.

And Mrjstark... not sure how you gathered it from her posts, but you are correct; she's a gem.

Bob
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