$9000 speaker Orangutan or speaker + amplifier

Essrand,
I wouldn`t give up the idea of using a SET so quickly. If the Devore is truly 96 db sensitive and has an easy load(said to be 8- 10 ohms) a good 300b or 845 SET amp would be quite a fine match. Just go to the dealer and ask to hear it with an SET amp as Chayro wisely suggested. It seems to me the chances are very good for a successful pairing. Just go and listen.Essrand for an example, my speaker is 94db -14 ohm load(Coincident) and Chayro`s speaker is 92 db -8 ohm load(Trenner-Friedl). Both of these speakers are driven effortlessly and beautifully with our respective SET amps.These are speakers meant to be very easy loads and mate well with SET amps. Give it a try first before you reach any conclusions.
Good Luck,
Charles,

Esstrand,
Food for thought, the Trenner-Friedl Pharaoh compares favorably to the Orangutan in both price and design objectives.

Chayro, No dealer near me (within 400 miles) deals with Orangutan 0/96. There is one dealer who has a O/93 that they are testing out. So I might be able to audition that with a SET. Its a good idea.

I do like the SHL5, have heard them multiple times, so its a safe choice for sure.

Charles1dad, I cannot find any pricing information for the Pharaoh, do you know how much it retails for ? Would be great to get more suggestions on SET friendly speakers. I know Coincident, Devore. And thats it.

I've heard 97 db zu essence off 6 watt set amp. It worked pretty well with much of the music demoed but Zu guy admitted when I queried that the amp was under powered for certain kinds of music like the Rush lp I asked to hear. Bass was noticeably thin and missing dynamics. Also heard large hi eff classic audio speakers of off beefier atmasphere amp. That combo seemed to deliver the music with ease.

I have heard the Orangutans with a 211 SET amp and the combination sounded nice. If it is an easy load, and truly 96 db efficient, it should work reasonably well with even lower-powered amps. To me, the key is "easy" load more so than high efficiency. I have heard the notoriously inefficient Rogers 3/5A (15 ohm version) used with a 5 watt amp and the combination sounded very good, with no hint of clipping even at fairly high volume.

A lot depends on how loud you require the system to go. Most SET users actually appreciate the fact that their systems can sound very full, dynamic and exciting at surprisingly modest volume levels.

But, if you insist on playing SETs very loud, what you will first notice is that the music actually sounds dull (the dynamics will be compressed long before very obvious distortion from clipping is heard). I think that the kind of music where the limitations of SETs can be best heard is large choral works, particularly works without instruments (e.g., Rachmaninov's Vespers with a good Russian choir)--it is easy to hear the voices become muddled and inarticulate.

I have heard Trenner and Friedl speakers (can't remember the models) and they sound very good to me--they have the great dynamics that one finds mostly with high efficiency speakers.

I personally find that there are very few commercial speakers that I like that are SET friendly, particularly if one is insisting on high volume level and a commensurate efficiency pushing at 100 db/w or more. That usually means horns, and most horn systems have a lot of midrange coloration that one has to either learn to love or ignore. The systems I have heard that minimize horn colorations are custom built, use very hard to find old drivers or use some very expensive new drivers. On the other hand, if one is willing to live with restrictions on use at extreme volume level, quite a number of good speakers can be used, such as Audionote, Spendors, even ProAc.