Tube Friendly Speakers - Down to 30Hz - $3000?

Tvad,

Don't want to sound like (pardon the pun) a broken record, but I believe Kevin at Upscale has Cary Silver Oaks on hand. Honestly, I have no affiliation with the guy, I just think his inventory is heavy on the kind of stuff you're seeking; SET amplification and good partnering speakers.

Marty

I called Kevin. Essentially his response after putting me through the standard salesman's buyer qualification was, "Listen to everything on your list, and then call me in a couple of weeks."

I saw a photo of the Silver Oaks. They look quite large. What are their dimensions? What are their specifications?

Silverline Reference 17.5. 90db/8 ohms. 32Hz-32Khz. $3500 retail.

Any owner comments?

Hi Tvad,

I have a friend who owned Silverline Reference 17's, and they were very nice little speakers. In his set-up, I'd estimate they got down to maybe the upper to mid 40's.

I'm skeptical of the 17.5's implied claim of extension to 32 Hz (although to be precise no plus-or-minus-dB tolerance is specified). Assuming an 88 to 90 db efficient woofer in a .65 cubic foot vented enclosure, the response will be down at least 10 dB at 32 Hz without significant boundary reinforcement. While it's true that I don't know the specific parameters of the Dynaudio woofer used, enclosure volume and efficiency and bass extension are interrelated enough that knowing any two will allow a reasonably reliable extrapolation of the third.

You might find it useful to make calculations of your own to check out manufacturer's claims. Speaker designers are pretty much constrained by the same sets of rules, unlike writers of ad copy.

You can download a pretty good little speaker simulation program here. Try the free demo version - that's probably all you really need. I can help you run a few practice simulations if you'd like.

Best regards,

Duke

Thanks, Duke.

A personal rant:
I live in Los Angeles. The second largest city in the USA. I have identified seven loudspeakers that I'd like to hear. None are available to hear in Southern California either because there are no dealers, the dealers do not respond to inquiries, a dealer will not demo the speakers because of the uncertainty of a sale, the manufacturers do not respond to my inquiry to locate a local owner or to arrange an in-home audition, or there are no local owners.

The speakers in question are almost all currently popular or recently well-reviewed models. Only two are what I would consider somewhat obscure.

When someone asks the question if high end audio is dead or dying, I will point out my experience. This hobby cannot survive without responses from dealers and manufacturers to a potential customer, and the lack of distribution does not bode well for the survival of boutique gear.

I thank all of you who have assisted in this thread and in private emails.