looking for a more efficient speaker.....

Wow, a blast from the past, I had Alon IV's many, many years ago, purchased them from Arnie, founder of Audiogon. I modded those things to nth degree, went to the Alnico magnets, modded baffles and bass box. Later on went to the Lotus SE when I went to tube amps.

No way do you need 500wpc with the IV's, I ran them with NAD amps, then NEW (Nirvana Electronic Works) DCA 66, 60WPC Class A battery powered, then Conrad  Johnson MV55, at which point I changed to Lotus.

I have no idea of 'strain' you're hearing, certainly not lack of power! And going to more efficient speakers will likely exasperate issue. You've got to match speakers to amp, I've found Alons like tubes for mids and tweeter, however, need a modicum of amp damping factor to get bass right.

You're problem may be elsewhere in system as well, strain and lack of resolution can be result of many things.

As for future speakers, could never get used to box speakers after open baffle Alons. Now have modded Klipschorns, give me everything Alons did and so much more!

sbank, went thru that with Karl a while back and he like so many dont like to suggest gear....

had a long talk and science lesson from the guy at atma sphere, can remember his name.  we talked extensively about the need for a more efficient speaker and how beneficial it is....

to all, since ive untighten the screw on those type of interconnects the sound has been alot better.  i have one or two other that has that type of configuration ill change those as well....keep you posted.

soix    did you try that and how is it working for you.   that and moving the wires and interconnect away from each other works wonders.  made sure i dont have anything touching the carpets too.......

i’m getting caught up on this thread, been on a trip in the last week plus

i am solidly with those saying this is not an amp/power issue - the dna will play plenty loud without strain, drive the alon 4's just fine thank you, even for loud listening in a reasonable room

problem is elsewhere in the system, first place to look is preamp to amp input/output matching, second place is check the tubes in the herron, third would be to make sure the source output voltage isn’t too low