$$$Sensitive Speakers with $$Amps?

The short answer is yes. If your speaker is high efficiency, you can get by with less power. Tube power in particular is expensive so this can have a huge effect on the price of the amp.

I don't think my point was very clear, so I didn't mean the different costs of tube power.

If I'm looking for a low power amp to drive a pair of Horning Aristoteles ($11K) or Rethm Maarga loudspeakers ($8.5K), for example, am I smart by going with a Red Wine Audio 15 (15 watts = $1,500) or a Tron Telstar (12 watts = $40,000)?

I understand diminishing returns, but the recommendations that I've read about seem to support lower cost super value solutions. I'm trying to find out if this is BS, or if SQ value is for real in the low power amplifier market.

not sure about the speaker choice.

Jaybo,
My questions aren't so much about choice of speakers as about if there are relatively low-watt amps that can equal the SQ of much more expensive choices.

I am heading in the direction of sensitive speakers in the 96 to 99dB range, but my current amp is a 6550 35-watter.

I happen to love the sound of the Hornings and have listened to many speakers of different types from multiple shows. The Horning sound is still my personal favorite after three years of listening. However, I always hear the Hornings paired up with $20K to $40K amps. There also seems to be a movement away from Lowther drivers and I got caught up in threads and reviews about the ex-Lowther-based Rethm speakers. I have not heard these yet.

I was at the 2011 show in Montreal where I heard the Voxativ Amppegio speakers which caught my attention. For me, those fit my ears pretty well. I would find out that these cost $30K, so that wasn't going to happen. After finding out that these speakers received Stereophile's Product of the Year for 2011, I read a review in Six Moons where the Rethm Maargas were preferred over the Voxativ in a head-to-head listen.

In the Six Moons article, the Red Wine Audio Signature 15 integrated amplifier was claimed to be an excellent match for driving the Rethm driver. As this amplifier is only $1,500, I became curious if others out there have had excellent results with lower-cost/low-watt designs.

It's a good question.