$$$Sensitive Speakers with $$Amps?

I have two pieces of tube gear, a DAC and a pre-amp.

The DAC is an overachiever for its very modest cost so I was willing to take a chance and go with a smaller vendor that seemed to receive universal rave reviews and that has worked out exceptionally well.

The pre-amp, an Audio Research, cost a good bit more but is still modest by some audiophile standards. For the bigger investment, especially first time out, I felt best going with a larger known entity like ARC not just becasue the gear sounds good but in hope of good customer service when needed, replacement tubes, etc. Maintaining the ARC is not horrible but it is not cheap (good QUIET tubes are EXPENSIVE). As much as I like the tube pre-amp, I still find myself thinking that when the day comes to replace it, I will try to go back to a good SS pre-amp in that I am not one who gets any enjoyment out of maintaining gear. I just want it to perform consistently well so I can listen to it.

I think Jaybo is correct to question your speaker choice. Why not go for a full horn system and skip the in-between step of full-range driver back loaded horn?

The Red Wine Audio Signature 30.2 spent some time in my systems (a Jordan full range and a full horn system). It has a great sound in its own right, but is certainly not in the same league as a proper 300b amplifier.

For < 5k you can have a Yamamoto that will certainly sound far better than the Redwine, and I do not mean any disrespect to Vinnie, he makes a good product, but there are limits to solid state sound.

A shockingly inexpensive tube amp that is also surprisingly quiet is the MiniWatt N3. Quieter than much more expensive tube amps I have tried. And only 3 tubes to roll, making it cheaper to try out tubes like Psvanes (which I love in mine). Might be a great back-up amp for the speakers you are interested in.

Thank you everyone for your insight and personal experiences.

Living in the more conventional world of multi-driver solutions, my belief system for amplifiers was that you get what you pay for. This was unraveled somewhat with the amp Sam Kim built for me. For me, a step up in SQ for less money.

For someone who loves the Horning sound, I was taken at a show when the amp was switched to the $3,000 SS Audioprojekte CA10. I realize, if I spent more time comparing the Audioprojekte against the default Tron, I would probably pick the Tron. Still, the rule of diminishing returns seemed to almost disappear when compared to differences with other types of audio components. I consider the CA10 a super value, and it was the reason I started to investigate the subject of this thread.

I agree and understand that the amplifier must be dead quiet in order to achieve the sound that we seek. At the same time, I don't want to give up the "life" that great tube amps fill into that dark space. For example, I was put off by a $100K Krell system with the quietest and darkest of backgrounds. Add to that great pinpoint imaging, but with a flaw. The players floated in their own bubbles with no life (air) between them. This is my own opinion, but I became bored as the sound seemed cold and uninvolving.

Okay, probably by now you know what I like and prefer. Additionally, I have a smallish room (16 X 14') and require an intimate sound. Even so, by gravitating to the Hornings and Rethms it's also obvious that I require some bass. The woofers of the Rethm are powered, but the Horning woofers are not. Perhaps, this makes the Rethms easier to drive with a more cost-effective solution.

While Sam Kim's amp is brilliant, and he can build me any push-pull triode that I can think of, I'm not sure about the needed silent background for these highly revealing drivers.