Another 2,000 Speaker Question

I hesitated making Trelja's suggestion earlier, as you are focusing on speakers now, but I was thinking the same thing. The Dunlavy IIIs are, as I said, easy to drive, and my personal view from having listened to them for many years at my dealer's and from having owned John Dunlavy's previous design, Duntechs, is that they come alive with tubes in the midrange, so you can keep them on the list of speakers that will do well with tubes. Since you had asked about them, Maggies are excellent speakers as well, but the 3.5s really need a lot of power and a good deal of room, as noted above, to come alive; not sure about power requirements for the 1.6s, have heard them only with 200 watt solid state amps (I personally like them better than the 3.5s, and they might be a better choice for you as they don't need as much space and you don't really need the extra bass of the bigger Maggies) and they do have a certain magic to them. All of the speakers I've seen mentioned in this thread with which I'm familiar get the midrange right, but they do have different presentations, overall balances and strengths; if there is any way you can hear some of them, you should try, as you may well fall in love with one of them. Perhaps there is an audio society or group in your area with members who have some of these speakers? Good luck!

I will second... or is it third the J.M. Reynaud suggestion. I own the Trentes and they are excellent. They seem to get everything right and are very musical. As a musician I'm guessing this will be important to you. If you get the speakers be sure to get the Magic Stands which are made for them. Randy at OS is a very good guy to deal with.

To everyone who has responded, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your help in this. I am very intrigued by what you've said about tubes, so maybe that should be the first consideration. I take it that this means the Maggies are out if I choose tubes! Do tubes do well with faster paced music or intricate rhythms? Also, I mentioned the room size as 15 X 20; I forgot to tell you that it has cathedral ceilings; will tubes still be an option? I guess I would have to match them up with speakers that don't require so much juice? Or would I go with a monitor-type speaker with the tubes and then get a powered subwoofer for the bass (or does that result in an uneven tonal presentation)? Sorry if these questions are basic in nature.

No need to apologize, some of us are still asking these questions after years in this hobby! As far as Maggies and tubes, I have not heard them with tubes, but there are internet sites of the many extremely happy Maggie owners which may be of assistance to you; perhaps someone here can give the net address. Another alternative is to use a solid state amp but a tubed preamp; I know many Maggie owners who use that combination. If you go all tubes, they will do well with intricate and fast-paced rhythms. They generally may not have the instant-on/instant-off dynamics you can get from solid state, but I feel they have a more natural portrayal of real-life dynamics that you'd hear at an unamplified concert. Keep in mind I'm a tube fan, though! The size of the room and the ceilings won't be a problem, although you may want to look for efficient speakers that don't need a lot of watts to play loud (there are very powerful tube amps out there, though). On subwoofing, we all have our opinions, mine is that most well-designed tube amps will give you good bass down to about 40-50 hz, and the quality of that bass is excellent. If most of the music you listen to does not have substantial bass content below that frequency, go with a speaker like those noted in the above posts which have reasonable bass extension, then get a subwoofer later only if you think you really need it. Integrating a subwoofer is not as easy as we'd like, and you are better off doing it at a lower frequency than a higher one, as a general rule. Hope this helps a little; I'm sure there will be helpful posts from our other members on your questions as well.

Thanks, rcprince! I am confused about ss vs. tubes, frankly. What do you feel like you gain vs. give up with tubes? Are they difficult to maintain? It does sound like tubes may be the way to go, maybe matched with some Reynauds maybe (several have suggested these, and other reviews on the net seem glowing -- no pun intended). I am also interested in the speakers you're listening to as a match with your tube equipment.