AES Cary Sixpacs and Silverline Audio Sonata III

Choose your speaker first, and then match an amp to the speaker.

If you're married to the AES Sixpacks, then consult an AES dealer for speaker recommendations.

That's my best advice.

Bauerp

My room is just over 4M wide, and just under 6M deep, with the speakers firing off the short wall. I've two openings towards the rear of the room and one on either side.

There's more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. I'm thinking the IIIs & your amp should do OK. i ran a BAT 60spc tube amp on mine and they sounded fine. Lots of volume. Not a lot of bass though. good punchy bass on tube amps seems an elusive thing generally speaking.

For me in my room, 92 - 94 db (avg), is more than I can handle for extended playing. maybe a song or two, but no more, then I need a break. the BAT vk60 did that on my sonata IIIs.

Consequently, I'd say SS is NOT a prerequsite for the Sonata IIIs to provide you volume. That's easy!

To do their best however is subjective! The real answer is going to be determined by your own tastes and preffs.

As far as I'm concerned the sonata IIIs are great speakers, period. given they're also in the over $7K retail range, having something comensurate to push them with might well be inorder too... I've found I can live pretty well with amps in the $5000 - $6000 range very often. More or less expense there ain't a bad thing either, I suppose, it's just my experience and was said above... "What sort of 50 wpc amp?". they ain't all equal. (also do try the 4 ohm taps off the amp, as well as the 8's if you get the Sonata IIIs... just a thought.).

The difference between SS and tubes on my Sonata III has to do with tonal balance across the frequency range, not with volume.

The tube amp emphasizes certain frequencies, and de-emphasizes others. The sound is unbalanced. Both tube amps I own(ed) had this effect, and each are highly regarded amplifiers.

The sound has better balance with the SS amp because no frequency is emphasized.

FWIW, I do not have the Silverline III's (I have the Bolero's) but I have heard them at Silverlines location in California. I think Tvads comments are probably right on, considering that you like rock and like to 'turn the volume up'. If I had bought the III's I'd probably have been looking for some very refined SS amps to balance out the bass possibilities and the upper frequencies. Now if I was willing to pass on some of the punch in the bass I think I could have found hog heaven with tubes. They really are fine speakers but they are not, as I suspect Tvad has found, necessarily plug and play.

My experience with tube amps and the Sonata III involves more than bass issues. The treble region with two of my tube amps has been overly aggressive and bright, and the midrange has been recessed.

This is why I have continually emphasized tonal balance in this thread rather than only bass response.