Please Recommend Highly Efficient Floor Standing Non-Horn Speaker Suggestions

@hilde45

How does the Ascend Acoustics Sierra Tower compare to the Fritz Carrera BE that you reviewed...especially when paired with subs.  Thanks.

Goldenear Trition 1.r or References are 92-93 db sensitive and can be driven easily with a 75 watt tube amp. I am using a VAC Ren 70/70 with the Triton 1.r's and it works perfectly. These speakers have a 1600 watt bass amplifier so they do very deep.

@jaudio1 The Ascends offer smoother highs than the Be tweeter and the soundstage is more articulate and larger. In many ways, there is just a more neutral/honest presentation of the sound. I really like the Carreras, and I like my Salk SS6M, but as I listened more — especially to classical symphony, piano, and various acoustic instruments, the Ascends were better windows onto what seemed to me the "real" character of those instruments. Plus, again, larger and more detailed sound field.

@jtcf Thank you! Well, I just know how they sound in my situation, but I was really looking for something with multiple drivers with either an AMT or other ribbon tweeter. The Legacy speaker I heard was too huge and not that engaging. I heard an Apertura which sounded divine but it was $11.5k and, well, no — not yet. The Ascends had multiple drivers, and the RAAL, and the reviews and online comments I read just said to me to try them for 30 days and eat the shipping if I didn’t like them. Well, they were tested with various amps and compared with other speakers, and they were never harsh, even with my low ceilings. They blended perfectly with my Rythmik and Rel subs. So, I kept them. I’ll try to write this up, soon.

@jonwatches1 You offer a great list. I’m saving this! Personally, I wanted a tower with multiple drivers and in a $4k or less price range. The Ascends’ efficiency was proved to me by the way my lowest power tubes handled their load. Again, it’s about the speakers not dipping down and calling on the amp to produce sudden bursts of power. This is what I think makes the Fritz speakers work so well with tube amps. Salks do fine but I think they like a bit more power. Look around 1.5k and 3k hZ on the graph on this page: https://www.salksound.com/model.php?model=SS+6M 

I have seen a couple of references to Fyne speakers here.  I have a pair of F702s, made in Scotland.  I am driving them with a McIntosh MC2120 (120 wpc, refurbed about 10:years ago) from a Rogue Audio RP-1 preamp.  Sources are Apple lossless and an NAD 658 CD player, both fed through Shiit Bifrost 2.  The room is about 13x22x8, with a 10 foot wide open area to the dining room to the left of the listening area.  I rarely have to turn the volume on the RP-1 beyond about half-way to achieve the volume level where the speakers really “open up” in terms of instrument placement and separation.  I am very, very pleased with the F702s, and I am considering a Rogue Audio Atlas Magnum III to either supplement (bi-amping) or to replace the MC2120.  The recent upgrades from an NAD. integrated amp and no separate DAC were an “ear opener” for me.