$$$Sensitive Speakers with $$Amps?

Thanks, Trelja.

Bravo, a good dosing of tangible results through hands-on research! Well done.

As I quickly and loosely threw a number of amplifier contenders into a heap, it sounds like you might be able to help me discard and/or re-sort the list to better match the two and possibly additional speaker models.

As with many audiophiles, I love music without an engineering degree, so my ears tell all. Your contribution, however, makes me wish I had at least finished my correspondence course with the Cleveland Institute of Electronics. Funny, I got to the part about vacuum tubes and threw my hands up. Too bad, it was back in the seventies and I had no one to hold my hand, like on AudiogoN!

Seriously, this forum thread is not all about me. Hopefully, it can be used as some small reference to others of what types of low-watt amps match up nicely with types of HE speakers. A plus, and the part that is related to me at this time, is finding lower cost wonders to match up with my speakers of interest.

I live in Colorado, so I have access to RMAF. This is where I met Jeff (HWS) who’s a great guy and my main dealer of the last three years. I also grew up in NYC and worked downtown, so I am very familiar with the surroundings.

Again, thank you for your help and commentary.
Kenny

Charles1dad, its not like I listen to those levels all the time! But there are certain LPs, that in order to sound life-like, have to be allowed to do what the composer and musicians had in mind.

The Verdi Requiem (RCA Soria edition), side one track 2, is an example. The music goes from ppp to ffff (for those of you not into music, very very quiet to as loud as can be played) and as far as I can make out, the LP is not compressed. It will bring most stereos to their knees very quickly! Its just not convincing when the system is playing the quiet portions at the right level and then craps out/compresses/gets harsh when the music demands it. So its nice to have some dynamic range available, even if it does not get used all that much.

Here's couple of others:
Decca/London Das Reingold (Solti cond.) side 6. Amazing. (I'm not much of an opera fan but I make an exception for Wagner.)
Black Sabbath Paranoid Vertigo 'white Label' UK edition. Astonishingly well-recorded. The energy in the grooves is un-playable on many systems.

Joe, seriously, we've not been sitting on our hands in the last 8 years. Get that M-60 in here- I think you will be pleasantly surprised... Now I am wondering about this horn/transmission thing. As you know I had some of Bud's speakers as well (still have his big subwoofer) and our amps have always found them a very friendly load. But I've had a lot of horns too and have found them to be friendly loads too. But you have been very consistent in your comments about rear horn loading, which flies in the face of our experience/feedback. So I am wondering if there is something in particular about the speaker model that you have or what. There's not yet enough data to be conclusive.

".. its nice to have some dynamic range available, even if it does not get used all that much."

Not just dynamic range (difference between loudest and lowest levels) but headroom in general to go loud as needed even if the dynamic range is compressed, as it is in many if not most popular recordings out there these days.

Just watch your ears. Too much exposure to SPLs over mid 80's or so is generally acknowledged to damage hearing incrementally over time.

High efficiency speakers combined with high power amps might be the closest thing in audio to a weapon of mass destruction. Especially when accidents happen ( and they do happen). So be careful....

I was glad to hear that one agoner I know of moved to a more flea powered tube amp from a 500w/ch Class D shortly after adapting a pair of Avantgardes.

Kenneythekey, I'm impressed in the most incredible way by your willingness to travel all the way to the East Coast to hear the Hornings. Indeed, the bravo goes not to me, but you! It's exactly THAT kind of passion that makes this hobby so wonderful.

With RMAF so close, September might not fit the plans of either you or Jeff. But if you can swing it, the annual Feast of San Gennaro http://www.sangennaro.org/ is a very short walk, and something not to be missed. After San Francisco (never visited, but it holds the reputation), New York probably has the most interesting Chinatown in the country, and also sits right there. Still, the sight of the Brooklyn bridge right there at Jeff's place will likely move you in a big way.

Since you'll be out this way, if you care to travel 1.5 - 2 hours south to Philadelphia, you're welcome to give my Hornings a listen as well. Since our rooms are so different (brick/hard floor vs. drywall/carpet), the sonic presentation would likely reflect that.

Mapman, I'm not a low volume guy, but understand that's more the rule than the exception. To answer your other question, with the backloaded horns I have been around, yes, some SETs can do more volume than the more familiar push-pull amplifier.

Again, a sort of "coupling" that transcends wpc ratings may come into play. We know it's not electrical impedance in this case, but I don't think the word "impedance" in a different sense of the word misses the mark by far.

Another way to picture it could be the ability to propel the air that exists through the long length of the exponentially expanding horn forcefully enough so that it meaningfully adds to the impulse propelled from the surface of the driver itself. Obviously, I haven't worked it all out, and I've yet to meet someone who can explain it to me. It might be when comparing SET, PP, and OTL amplification, we're dealing with something like the whip versus the club; both of them powerful, but of a profoundly different nature.