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Very tube-friendly monitor speakers?

Hey
I want to setup a second system consisting of a SET integrated (at this point looks like Antique Sound Labs or Unison) around 3 to 10 Watts. I want much more efficient speakers than my Paradigm Reference 100.2s so as to not have to stress my new little amp, leaving the Paradigms with my beloved McIntosh SS setup. By my calculations, i would like a monitor of 93dB or more sensitivity. And to make it even harder, I would like to keep it around $1000 or less, new preferred but used not out of the question. Any comments, suggestions, questions welcome. Thanks! Arthur
aball
smjason
60 posts
 
Soliloquy makes a speaker called the SM2A3 which is very tube friendly. It is meant to be driven by SET's. Check these out. They go for 1195 new, I am sure you can get a discount or about 600-800 used. I really enjoy the soliloquy sound, they are very rich and smooth sounding and are great with tubes, good luck
ivanj
640 posts
 
I recall there is a 16 or 30 ohm version of the LS3/5A monitor either old or current production that might fit the bill. Contact a Spendor dealer.
tomryan
794 posts
 
The size of your room really matters here. I have an 8 wt 300B Air Tight amp and a 11 x 13.5 room. Use 86db efficient ProAc 2.5s. Works quite well but I would like to find something at 90db which would effectively double the output of my amp. Again, size of room is very important. The bigger the room, the more efficient the speaker needs to be. Finally, check the thread from 11-07-02 - "Best efficient speaker..."
aball OP
1,994 posts
 
Thanks for the replies. i checked out the "best efficient.." thread already but really would like to get monitors. I am looking into the Soliloquy - I had missed that one. I could not find much of anything on the LS3/5a. Thanks again.
phild
603 posts
 
Coincident makes quite a few models that are very tube friendly and I've read good things about their speakers.
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