Raven Blackhawk LE... am I going to be disappointed?


Only reason I ask is because it will be pushing Salk Veracity Ht2-TL’s...  Im coming off a Belles Aria, which was fantastic, but wanted to try something different.  My concern is the low wattage of the Raven and low sensitivity of the salks, but my Belles 75 watts sounded better than 3 other nice 225 watt integrateds.  
So, anyone with experience with the Raven Blackhawk LE pushing somewhat low sensitivity speakers chime in and let me know.  



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Unless I am misunderstanding, the sub out on the amp is a high pass xover just to remove the low frequencies from the main speaker. You would still control the volume of the sub with the control on the sub. You actually wouldn’t want that output to be variable.
Ok, understood.
Why not use the sub in a traditional hookup with the low-pass crossover? The mid bass driver on the mains is going to present better SQ than a subwoofer driver. Set the crossover on the sub and use it for the lowest octaves.

{On the back are an ungrounded AC socket, RCA line-level inputs and high-pass (80 Hz, 6 dB/octave) outputs, Volume control, Low-Pass crossover control (40 Hz - 120 Hz, 12 dB/octave initially, 48 dB/octave ultimately), Crossover in/out switch, Phase toggle (00 or 1800), Subsonic selection (20 Hz or 35 Hz), and a remote sensor switch.}

"I was really curious what 95+db speakers were like so I borrowed a pair of whatever klipsch’s... RF3’s? He picked them up for $200... they mopped the floor with the salks and they are not even close to the same level as the Salks, so it was the sensitivity / synergy that was doing it for me."
Did you try using the Belles Aria with those speakers?
Interesting path. You had Carreras and then Salks and the Belles Aria wasn’t doing it so you got a 20 watt tube amp to go with the speakers; but it wasn’t enough power so you’re now getting rid of the speakers to go with the amp? Is that what happened?

My path was different. After a lot of research on speakers, I chose Salks which were 83 db. Huge mistake because I learned what it would take to drive them. So, I asked Salk to swap me out for more efficient speakers in that line -- 90 db. I used a number of online calculators including this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itKqSWH07_Y&ab_channel=TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel
and forum posts to figure out which amps would be adequate -- e.g., here. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/speaker-sensitivity-impedance-and-calculating-amp-power/post?...

At first, I was looking at 20 wpc and 40 wpc tube amps. Not enough. I consider 80 or more tube amps (Octave, Quicksilver, Atmasphere, etc.) but they were too expensive. So I settled at 60 wpc. Preamp and amp for about $4k. Turns out, 60 is fine for my Salks. I drove them recently with 225 wpc and they did not improve overall (they were solid state watts, so better bass but not better midrange, soundstage).

So, choice of speakers, first; amp to match, second.

In your case, I see that you’re seeking synergy by going with a very well regarded amp. I don’t know how the Tektons and the Salks compare in sonic character, quality of parts, looks, etc. That would have been a comparison to make early on with an amp that could drive both of them, ideally. But you are where you are, and good luck!

I really do not see the need for such sensitive speakers. It’s one kind of synergy but there’s so much testimony about other synergies that work equally well, listener-relative, of course.

As a parting comment -- which I expect people to disagree with -- I don’t see the choice of a tube amp in this price range to be all that critical. I see the speaker choice as much more important. I mean, couldn’t one get a number of really good tube amps in this price range to do justice to a speaker in the 87 db and up range? Could it really be that hard? (Looking new or used, might a match not be found among Aric, Cary, Modwright, Octave, Quicksilver, Supratek, Raven, Rogue, Prima Luna, et al.?)
I know I am a new guy here but @arafiq is right should give the CeLest a shot.

A friend has them along with the Quicksilver integrated and it sounds awesome. I imagine with the Blackhawk it will be even more so.