I have the Allnic T2000 30th Anniversary using the KT170's.
I've written a review on this integrated stating that its sound signature was more like a class A solid state amplifier, than a tube amplifier. It is not at all euphonic to our ears. With 150wpc in pentode, could it drive woofers with texture? I don't know. Maybe. Last night we were enjoying playing music immensely, listening to the little Burchardt's in my main listening room paired with the Allnic Integrated, the Allnic D10000 DAC and fed by a Pro-ject RS2-T transport. As I recall I started with Neil Young - Live at the Filmore with Crazy Horse, then Greendale, followed by Radiohead - The Bends, followed by Bach - Brandenburg Concertos then Sarah Brightman - Haram, then company arrived. Great session.
That listening session had artists that spanned a lot of years. Everything that was thrown at those speakers and they didn't flinch, rather, they dug into the recording and presented it musically. They did cheat a bit using a pair of Adam SW260 subs, small studio subs that always seem to integrate well with anything they've been asked to do. They're like a great session player, "hey where's that amazing bass player"? "Adam is over there".
So you might think well why not a pair of monitors and use the Adams or better yet, a pair of REL's? Because I Macgyver'd the subs into play by using the speaker tap's as an output signal to the subs stapling in a few resistors and bam - output. Probably illegal in the high-end audio community - I know I'm breaking some electronic rule.
Point is that I steer toward full range speakers because I'm not sure that my "Macgyvered" setup is long-lasting.
As far as finding speakers for a particular genre, I sort of agree as there are plenty of speakers that are great at playing a particular genre, well, like the Harbeth's, or the Harbeth's of yore, because the 40.3's have that modern sound... But yeah, I need the jack of all trades it seems.
I had the Wells Audio Innamorata Signature amplifier and their owner, forgot his name, really good guy over at the house one night. We compared his masterpiece (Innamotara) to what may still be the finest sounding amplifiers ever made, the Joule Electra VZN100's. The Joules ended up being the darling of that listening session but Inamorata gained huge respect from my audio clan that night. I would totally own that amplifier. But I'm not selling my Allnic.
Some years ago after a visit to Siegfried's home, I bought his design, the LXmini which he was using in his system. You'd think he would have all this fancy gear but not, a cheap multi-channel HT amp, a miniDSP using a program he designed and the LXmini's. Amazingly spacious coherent sound emanated from those little guys. I still have the LXmini's and the miniDSP but I somehow lost the programming and the miniDSP forum refused to give it to me. Need to circle back on that.
I have 2 systems, The Burchardts upstairs fed by the Holo May KTE dac, Acoustic Invader FET pre, and powered by a BMC-S1 amplifier. Then my main Allnic rig.
Speakers are tunable to a room for sure. Our room plays pretty clean. I need to deal with the ceiling (the ceiling that was supposed to have rockwool in it) by adding absorbers but reflections haven't been bothersome as they have been mostly tamed.
Well, I owned the MBL 126's. I drove them with a Pass Labs 350.5. They sounded great. I would say the only issue with them is that we often play music loud that we put a strain on the standmounts. Now the 101E would work. Let's take up a collection. The along came the Dynaudio C1's. Driver failed, Dynaudio blamed on my amp. Too much dc or something like that. Yeah, my crappy Pass Labs amplifier was the problem. $500 dollars later and no more Dynaudio.
I like Vandersteen. Nearly bought a Quatro many years ago. I have to relook at that.
Last night my wife and I sat down on our listening couch and pictured the Big 40.3's, well out into the room. It's just not big enough as many have informed. So I have to move on from that. Dang.
Again, my wife cares about the sound. I care more about how they look than she does! I mean there are some ugly-looking speakers out there, let's be honest.