Admittedly a bit lost


Folks

I am a long time music lover who is dipping his toes into high end audio for the first time. I have long enjoyed high quality headphones (Sennheiser HD650) and earphones (Etymotics all the time) but have not spent the big bucks (that I don't have) for high-end equipment. :)

However, I have recently acquired a Jolida tube amp (40W output) and am looking for good speakers to pair with them. I intend to go around listening to a bunch of speakers but I need to at least narrow down what sort I should ask my local dealers to have available for me to try. That is what this thread is about.

My constraints are thus:
- My musical tastes run the gamut from classical choral pieces (Bach's cantatas and mass, Arvo Part, Hilliard Ensemble's works etc - i.e. all mid-range frequencies) to experimental electronic music (Autechre, Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus etc - i.e. deep sub-bass and full-frequency spread music with absolutely zero traditional instruments and every sound is synthesized).
- My amp is a 40W tube amp
- I live in an apartment and so listen at volumes ranging from low to moderate.
- My budget for speakers is about $3K (slightly flexible).

With those constraints, my dilemma is that I don't know if I should be trying out high-efficiency speakers or low-efficiency ones? Should I look for 8ohm speakers or 4ohm ones? Something tells me that with low power tube amps, I should be looking at a high efficiency low impedence speaker. However, will that sort of speaker be able to navigate the high speed bass attack of electronic music when driven by an amplifier such as mine?

I am not sure where to begin, so I would really like some advise from folks here. Thank you so much!
badri
Badri, you are lucky to have a good choice of dealers in the area. You should be able to find an excellent speaker. In your quest, be sure to listen to speakers that are above your budget. It is helpful to see what you may be giving up at your price point....or not. The dealers may also have some used or demo gear that would allow you to get a better speaker for your budget. I have built my system on demo or used gear and often you can save 30-50%. Enjoy your listening.
@Whart

I have enquired with some of my local dealers and most have said that they used to allow customers to try the speakers out at home, but that they no longer do that. I have not enquired as to what made them change their minds, but at least they seemed to really want me to bring my amp along and were willing to move all the pieces I wanted to audition to one room so that I can compare them all relative to each other without much variation in the surroundings. I think this might be as good as I can get in the San Francisco area.

The book is ordered and is on it's way. I look forward to reading that!

As for horns, you are not the only person suggesting that. I had a friend also suggest that I try some of the older Klipsch horn-loaded speakers. I have no idea how to try out the JBLs - but I will try and see if there are vendors around here that I can try them out at.

Thank you once again for your advise!
@ZD542

My amp is an older JD202 model. It is an integrated amp and delivers 40W. My source is a Sonos (without the W4S mods) and while I mostly play FLAC files from my local library, I also stream content from Spotify on occasion.
@Ghosthouse - most of the dealers I have spoken to have been extremely positive to the idea of me bringing the amp along. So I will definitely be doing that. My amp incidentally is the 202a - and an integrated as you guessed right. I did roll the stock tubes and replaced them with the Mullard EL34 though.
@Mt10425 - dual subs seems like a wonderful idea if I can find the space and money for it :) At the current house rent rates in San Francisco, I would be in a pickle if I needed to find an apartment big enough for that amount of equipment :)
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