Best Speaker for 300B

Heard Avantguard, Parisfal, and Beauhorn with 300B. The Beauhorn with a REL sub was the best (and least expensive). Check out http://www.soundsofsilence.com for
a peek (and talk with Steve K. for more info).

Generally speaking, extra sensitive speakers (92+ db): horn-loaded (see above), passive crossover-less (Triangle et alia). You may also consider performant satellite speaker/active sub combos (A-Physics Step, et alia). There are many offerings; matching the sound to your tastes, however, is what ultimately counts.

Further info regarding your musical tastes would help in giving more specific suggestions.

Demo & enjoy!

It will depend on your room and listening tastes as Greg states. It will also depend on the amp and speakers themselves as the spec's/numbers are just a rough guideline. I have an Audion Silver Night 300B SET that does not seem to care if the speakers are of the low impedance type (part of the design I would imagine). I run a pair of Reynaud Twins (90db at 4 ohm, that could have been rated, I was told, at 92db @ 8 ohm, again the spec's) in an 18 x 24 room without any difficulty. Other speakers rated at 90db @ 8 and 4 ohm have not faired nearly as well. The RMS rating of the various 300B amps can also be somewhat misleading as many of them are rated at enormous levels of distortion, 2nd harmonic, (a level/rate that you would not be happy with, if you pushed them this far and the volume and output will most likely be kept much lower). Generally speaking though you are looking for speakers with high efficiency 92+ db and a smooth impedance curve that does not dip too low when under a full (real world) musical load, if you listen to R&R, full scale classical or other demanding music at above moderate levels. Anyway, try before you buy, if at all possible as system synergy has as much (or more) to do with the overall sound than the spec's do. My next speaker will most likely be the Hammer Dynamics kit that is rated at 96 db (I think). The kit is under $600 (though you have to build the cabinet or have them built yourself) and it has a strong following (these are floor standers). Other monitors that work well (in a reasonably sized room) are the Triumph Signature by Coincident Technology and the Soliloquy 5.0. They all sound different and I of course prefer the sound of the Reynaud which is a bit warmer. The Triumphs offer up the best bass of the bunch and the 5.0's were the most transparent. I could really be happy with any of them in my setup.

D-K, aren't your Reynauds a minimal cross-over design? I seem to remember Reynaud producing some models (yrs ago) without a standard cross-over... I don't remember the model, but these speakers were being driven by the Audions.
BTW, I also remember the Audions producing fine tunes driving a pair of Lowther-loaded speakers. Great machines!

Greg: I do not understand the crossover design (though it was just explained to me no less than two weeks ago by Randy Bankert @ O.S. Services, the US rep of Audion:-). It has been redesigned from the original monitor version that they first came out with and I seemed to get that it either has two crossovers (or two voice coils?) for the low driver (I may have misunderstood). The Silver Night itself does not have the typical mushy sound of many 300B SET's and is very quick and dynamic. It also is not rolled off at the frequency extremes. Even the power supply seems to be a bit different as various power cords have very little effect on the sound, but the unit weighs in at around 18 lb, so the power supply is obviously not some massive thing. The only mismatch that I have found with the amp are the JJ 300B tubes, which take dynamics and linearity to an extreme with this particular design. It is much better off with the Svetlana or WE type of 300B sound. I am certain that either Reynaud and or O.S. Services would be happy to explain the design to anyone that is interested. O.S. reps both Reynaud and Audion in the US, however I came to owning both lines independently of each other through trial and error.

Indeed, D-K, the Silver Nights I auditioned driving the Lowthers were wearing WE 300b's. What impressed me the most was the transient attack -- on classical, mind you ("Pictures at an Exhibition" (Giulini), I still remember)!
Anyway, this was at a Hi-end show, and Mr Reynaud was lecturing about the minimal effect of his crossovers on current supplied to his speaker units... hence my question.

Cheers!