Raven Audio and Beyond...

Another thing to know is that the Raven includes an on board high pass filter to the mains set at 80 hz.  This would provide quite a boost in available power to your x14s that are not "full range" speakers.  Then pair an affordable sub or two.  Which BTW would have likely helped all along.

To be clearer, the Raven's HP filter is selectable on the back.  

@tsushima1 you have to realize this thread is more about validation of a preconceived idea. You’re simply wasting your time trying to shine a light on reality … ie 20 watts are 20 watts. Heck they’re not even pure class A tube watts. If someone wants to sacrifice excellent speakers from a well respected manufacturer at the altar of flea watt amps there’s not much you can do. Sometimes the best way to learn is the hard way. So hail Raven Audio! Best amp regardless of price.

there”s an excellent discussion from a few months ago where the gentleman bought a Blackhawk to drive his not-so-efficient speakers. Everyone tried to tell him that 20 watts are 20 watts no matter what someone says. He bought it, realized his mistake and moved on to a solid state amp pretty quickly.

The Raven will be a huge, massive upgrade to what you have now, with virtually no downsides. It will be plenty of power, not enough to party loud or blast yourself out of the room, but with that caveat still definitely plenty of power, not at all something you are wishing every day for more.

Your plan for system development is music to my ears. This is basically the way I have done it, certainly the way I started. One major component every year or three. No baby steps, each one a major improvement, the kind of thing many audiophiles would say is out of balance or not matched. So? If you are building a system the smart way to do it is great strides. This means there will be times you have something that seems way out of line with the rest of your system. A Raven will tower over everything you have right now. But then over time as you gradually improve speakers, source, cables etc it will come more and more into balance.

The one time I didn't do that was interestingly enough my current Blackhawk. Before that I had a Melody I880 integrated. The Blackhawk certainly is better. But not great strides better. Incrementally. Worth it, but kind of a place holder. What you want do is avoid incremental improvement, at least in components. In tweaks, fine. Incremental tweaks really add up. Add Pods, elevators, HFT, Podiums, etc they all combine to make something really special. With components though it is better to make a significant commitment with each one. This is how you build for the long term.

🙄

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"  William Shakespeare.