Devore or Audio Note or other sensitive speakers: wanting to listen in Denver

@b_limo These would be coming into competition with the Salks. The Salks are clearly underpowered by (a) my QS Mono 60 tube amps and (b) my Pass XA 25. In addition, when I have powered them with more wattage — Van Alstine SET 400 and/or MiniGan5, they get the speed they need but sound shrill — and this is with a tube line stage and plenty of room treatments. I really think it's the Be tweeter, but in addition, it's the lack of power. Perhaps what I really need is a Pass XA 150, but I have decided that I really like the lower power amps with more sensitive speakers. I thought these were 90db but they're actually 87 and if you look at their graphs, they dip down to 83 and 85 db at crucial points in the spectrum. So, they need competition to work with my amps, which I'm keeping.

I think it’s important to discover the kind of presentation you are looking for. In my experience wide baffle speakers throw a very different presentation than narrow tower style speakers. Obviously horns give a different presentation than others with their own strengths and weaknesses. You will likely hear something you love and if it strikes you in the right way, the compromises will cease to exist. 
mud also recommend learning a little about impedance curves. These curves are much more important than a sensitivity rating if a speaker. Also realize that is no real standard in which the speaker industry measures- it’s expensive enough so many manufacturers don’t and methodologies amongst the professionals make it difficult to compare apples and apples.

Some great options above! Enjoy!

@bjesien 

mud also recommend learning a little about impedance curves. These curves are much more important than a sensitivity rating if a speaker. Also realize that is no real standard in which the speaker industry measures

Good point's! There's so much focus on speaker  sensitivity levels (With little clarity on how they are derived) . It's really the impedance load and curve pattern that determines how hard the amplifier must work. Sensitivity  will influence how loud a speaker can go for a given amount of applied wattage. 

Both parameters are useful to know but it seems speaker impedance and its impact is under appreciated. 

Thanks so much. I’ve been studying the impedance curve aspect, too, since I tried out Focal 936 (based on nominal sensitivity) and it was a flop (due to impedance curve).
 

Wish Salk released such data but they said they get reports of their speakers but don’t keep them nor make them public. Shame, because that’s really a data point I’d love to have.

I was going down that road this past summer too Hilde.  I decided to go the other direction and just get a beefy solid state that will push any speakers but I totally get the appeal with tubes, its just that I run into the same issues as you.

The Devores and Spatials definitely look appealing!  I’m in love with these little Maggie LRS’s so I’d go for the Spatials personally.

You’re ear is improving though in that you are picking up on speed / shrillness.  Its always good to hear as many other peoples setups as possible.  A few peoples systems completely changed my outlook on what is possible.

I have heard a ton of systems but have spent very little to no time with high efficiency speakers.