Admittedly a bit lost


Folks

I am a long time music lover who is dipping his toes into high end audio for the first time. I have long enjoyed high quality headphones (Sennheiser HD650) and earphones (Etymotics all the time) but have not spent the big bucks (that I don't have) for high-end equipment. :)

However, I have recently acquired a Jolida tube amp (40W output) and am looking for good speakers to pair with them. I intend to go around listening to a bunch of speakers but I need to at least narrow down what sort I should ask my local dealers to have available for me to try. That is what this thread is about.

My constraints are thus:
- My musical tastes run the gamut from classical choral pieces (Bach's cantatas and mass, Arvo Part, Hilliard Ensemble's works etc - i.e. all mid-range frequencies) to experimental electronic music (Autechre, Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus etc - i.e. deep sub-bass and full-frequency spread music with absolutely zero traditional instruments and every sound is synthesized).
- My amp is a 40W tube amp
- I live in an apartment and so listen at volumes ranging from low to moderate.
- My budget for speakers is about $3K (slightly flexible).

With those constraints, my dilemma is that I don't know if I should be trying out high-efficiency speakers or low-efficiency ones? Should I look for 8ohm speakers or 4ohm ones? Something tells me that with low power tube amps, I should be looking at a high efficiency low impedence speaker. However, will that sort of speaker be able to navigate the high speed bass attack of electronic music when driven by an amplifier such as mine?

I am not sure where to begin, so I would really like some advise from folks here. Thank you so much!
badri
@Mesch Is there a reason you suggest restricting myself to bookshelf/monitors over a floorstander?
@Soix- thank you so much for all those recommendations. I will see if I can seek them out.
@Phusis - I don't know how I missed that review. I usually make it a point to read all their speaker reviews especially if they are reasonably priced. Thanks for pointing those out to me!
@Stringreen I think you may be right. The Sennheiser HD650 and the Etymotics are very very different though fantastic sounding headphones/earphones. The HD650, I find quiet, laid back and dark. The Etymotics on the other hand are transparent beyond words. While they are both detailed, I must admit, I use them for very very different kinds of listening - and what I am looking for in my speakers is probably something closer to what I get from my Etymotics than what I get from the admittedly gorgeous sounding - but very dark Sennheiser.
"My amp is an older JD202 model. It is an integrated amp and delivers 40W. My source is a Sonos (without the W4S mods) and while I mostly play FLAC files from my local library, I also stream content from Spotify on occasion."

Given that, I would split the 3k up and use some of it for speakers, and the rest for a new source. The Sonos is only going to get you so far. A new dac connected to your integrated with IC's may make as big a difference as new speakers will.
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