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Easy to drive, outstandingly natural sound from 40-50 Hz up.....AN-E, O/96, others?

If my goal were to find natural-sounding, dynamic, and efficient speakers that can be driven with a somewhat lower-powered a (i.e., 50-watt SS) amplifier, and that work well with a variety of music, would I be looking at AN-Es, O/96s, or which others?
I am not particularly interested in using a 10-20 watt SET, but being able to use something lower-powered than the 300-watt amplifiers required for my 85dB speakers would open up a lot of other amplifier options and simplify things for me.  I have two fairly high-quality powered subs so the goal would be to fill my (moderately large) room from 40-50 Hz and up and let the subs handle the lower registers.
Any thoughts on the two speakers listed, or recommendations for others?
mitch2
zufan's avatar
zufan
563 posts
 
Sure: Sonist. Know of them? I own their largest floorstanders, and have them listed currently on this site. Love ’em, but I always rotate gear. The model I have are 97db, and I use my 10 watt tube MiniMax on them, and my 400w Digital Amp Co. Cherry amp on them. And they sound killer. I think they sound most similar to Tannoy, which I owned a few years back (the big Churchills). Ever heard any big Tannoy? With dynamics to die for? Sounds like them.

Shopping for fresh gear is all part of the fun! ;) 
salectric
755 posts
 
Spendor SP-100.
mitch2 OP
4,048 posts
 
@salectric , I have been interested in Spendor SP 100s, as well as Harbeth M40.2s but both of those have relatively low sensitivity for a 50-watt amp, although both are somewhat "easy" to drive from the standpoint of impedance.  Just not sure 50 watts would make them jump.

From Stereophile:

Spendor Classic SP100R2 loudspeaker Specifications
Sensitivity: 89dB/W/m. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 5.5 ohms minimum.

Harbeth M40.1 loudspeaker Specifications
Sensitivity: 85dB/W/m. Impedance: 6 ohms nominal. Suggested amplification: >50W.

shkong78's avatar
shkong78
1,485 posts
 
http://www.stereomojo.com/Onix%20XCD-50%20and%20XIA160%20review/XCD-50ReferenceCDPlayerReview.htm

With ceramic midrange driver, it has an organic midrange sound with good details.

Also with active bass it is easy to drive with 50 W SET.

I drove this speaker with Line Magnetic 508 with good result.

I keep this one as second speaker to Lansche 4.1 (55K$ speaker with plasma tweeter).

Although it go down decent, it will help to match it with good subwoofer.

If you are interested, I can loan VAUGHN CABERNET to you for 2 weeks.

Tweeter: Split Ribbon
Mid Range: 6.5" Ceramic w/ 6.5" Passive
Woofers: Two 10" w/ Dual 10" Passives
Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 12 ohms in
bass region, minimum 6 ohm
Sensitivity: 93 db
Response: 34 hz - 60,000 hz
Power: 8 - 120 watts
Weight: 86 lbs
Size: 9" x 14" x 42"
wolf_garcia
6,719 posts
 
Klipsch Heresy IIIs, astonishingly clear and coherent down to about 58hz where subs should do the low range heavy lifting. A relative bargain.
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