High sensitivity (99) with mid powered (50 to 100 wpc/tube) amps?

I am very sorry if my words are taken hurtfully.

Not at all, @mrdecibel . I value your input!

As far as my questions regarding power cords and my interest in speakers:

back when I bought the SA10 the salesman from MD told me that it would really benefit from a different power cord. I won’t say that I took that with only a grain of salt, but it wasn’t high on my list. I learn a lot from simply reading posts on this site, and a while ago the subject of digital and RF came up, and I started to put 2 and 2 together (hopefully i did?) and I thought, "Ohhhh, maybe the salesman was not just trying to sell me a cord I do not need." I mean, the better the machine (and I bought that machine because it is, in theory, no slouch, and the 3 pieces of digital separates I was using dated back to the ’90s and I felt they must be obsolete) the more something like a power cord might make it perform. Kind of like a performance engine . . . do certain things to a real dog and you are wasting time and money because a true dog is never going to perform regardless of what you do, but make certain changes to a real thorough bread, and the difference it can make is remarkable. Not all engines, for example, react the same way to headers. I was thinking the relationship to digital and power cords might be the same.

As far as speakers: that subject has been on my mind for a long time. I’ve posted numerous queries about speakers that have came to my attention on MD and when a speaker thread comes up, if the speakers are in my ballpark I frequently ask questions.

My present speakers are B&W 805s, but they are the ancient Matrixes that I bought going on 30 years ago. As much as I like them, I cannot help but think that they are the weak link in my system. And as much as I like what I get from my system in my compromised room, I cannot help but think updating my speakers MIGHT be like night and day. 30 years ago when I bought those B&W 805s they replaced a pair of NHT monitors, and the more and more I listened to the 805s the more and more I liked to listen, and at the time the $1600 list seemed like a lot for speakers (30 years ago) but I was totally okay with it. Those speakers did everything for me that I thought speakers could do. I have a pair of 1980s vintage re-ribboned Magnepans I bought from a friend back in ’01, and I never could get those Maggies to perform to the level of those old 805s.. It could be that those Magnepans are not as forgiving as the 805s when it comes to placement (I’ve had them in both my living room and my present small listening room) but regardless, I always wanted to hook my 805s back up. About 20 years ago, when I was a different person, I would switch my amp to ultralinear and I’d play music so loud that the picture I was seeing in my soundstage was like a balloon getting bigger and bigger and bigger . . . and it was clean but so loud I thought that they (the 805s) might explode. OR on other nights I’d switch them to triode and listen to them whisper. ((Prior to my present Cary amp I had a pair of unreliable ARC VTM 120s I drove them with, and I remember listening to Lou Reed’s (live red book) Rock And Roll Animal (specifically Intro then Sweet Jane then Heroin) so loud it scared me.

All that was to say that once upon a time I was very happy with the 805s, but to repeat: I now think that they are probably the weakest link in my system. Well, maybe the room is, but I can address the speakers way way way easier than the room.As far as listening to music. All I know for sure is that when I get the right CD in (and usually it is a SACD) there is air and bloom and detail and depending upon the recording the soundstage extends beyond the wall;

(I always listen in the dark)

and I hear textures and inflections in the vocalists voice and it makes me very happy. However, with what I feel is a source of lesser quality, it is hard to listen to. As an example, the last SACD I listened to before I disconnected and dismantled was Jacintha covering James Taylor on a SACD titled, if I remember correctly, Fire And Rain. By the time it had played through, my eyes were literally moist.

However, I cannot help but thinking that my ears were missing something listening to those old B&Ws and that I could be even happier if I could provide my ears with that something via different speakers.

Again, I apologize.

And again: are you kidding? There is absolutely NOTHING to apologize for!!!

Matt, I am sorry to hear that. Feeling nauseous when listening to much recorded material, is quite severe, and again, you are not alone. I fortunately enjoy everything I listen to...recorded well or not....as I listen to the performance, 1st and foremost. TY for being easy on me. Always, MrD.

@mrdecibel , well, "nauseous" was hyperbole. As is "nails on a chalkboard." What I would say, in all honesty, is that I find poorly mastered and/or recorded CDs to be lifeless and un-engaging with a very flat sound stage. Often I find them to sound bright or even shrill when I try to put a little muscle behind a song I really like. And the room I am in probably exacerbates this. However, when I get good source material in the SA10, it is immediately evident.

Matt, I am sorry to hear that. Nauseous is a feeling that never occurs with me when I listen to any of my recorded music.

I somehow got the impression that you listen to mostly vinyl? And I am also under the impression that most vinyl sounds "nicer" than most digital? I cannot personally attest to that, the last TT I had was part of a Magenevox (I don’t even know if I am spelling that right) rack system I bought in ’79, and I gave it & my LP collection to my sister when I went overseas in ’83, and back in those days our idea of being an audiophile (we actually had never heard the term) was to crank it up ’til it clips, and then back it down a hair. But I am locked into digital, and it is 99% likely that it will be digital for me until the day I die or they are feeding me meds that are crushed up and stirred in with pudding/whichever comes first.

But I am thinking that you are probably listening to better source material than I am a lot of the time.

. . . back to power cords and speakers, @mrdecibel , a power cord upgrade is an easier component to entertain playing around with than a speaker upgrade is.  Even on the level of a one thousand dollar power cord (although I would have to think hard before pulling that trigger/or for that matter, even a $500 power cord).  But a $50 dollar cord?  As @soix  once told me about installing affordable jumper cables in my speaker inputs IN ADDITION TO the shotgun biwiring I was doing (and I probably paraphrase to a certain extent), "How many tweaks are there that you can do for $25?"  Meaning if it works:  FANTASTIC!  And if it doesn't work:  no great loss, it was worth trying.

And I am on the cusp of ordering two more of those cords.  Procrastination just happens to be one of my fatal flaws.  

@immatthewj

I auditioned the Forte IV a couple weeks ago and cannot recommend them. I was looking at the possibility of a more full range bass response than my Spendor D7.2 towers and a more present, dynamic presentation.
Unfortunately the Forte IV sounded slightly dark and un involving in comparison.
The bass could be very deep and enjoyable but it seemed slow and disconnected from the music. It was also missing the mid bass punch my speakers have. On one of my demo tracks talking heads psycho killer live, it opens with a tight and punchy bass line.  The punch was totally missing from the Forte IV.  
This was very weird to me because I listened to the Forte III a few years ago and loved them!  Similar amp too.  They had everything the IVs lacked except for a bit too much cabinet coloration.  
If you have the budget, give the Pure Audio Project Duet 15 a try.