Calling all SET fans


What is the least expensive, aka cheapest speaker available
that will do a decent job on classical chamber music on 3-8
watts ?
schubert
Chayro, thanks very much ! I live in St.Paul though so its a bit far .
I had a pair of single driver Omegas with 4" Fostex, a bit
shouty in upper-mids for my taste .
Have Fritz make you a pair of Fostex single-driver speakers. I have a pair kicking around the house and I prefer the 4" driver to the 6". You wouldn't think it would be better, but it is. I used to listen to them quite a bit when I had my Opera standmounts, but I don't bother anymore. I don't know where you live, but I live in the JFK airport area and you're free to borrow them if you like.
I see a nice pr of ZU Omen came on today at $85O that the guy was using a 2.5 watt EL34 set with. Any thoughts?I have a ton of ZU wire including their best Event SC. IC and digital cable all of which are very good. Plus ZU is good to work with.

Charles, I had a buddy who had issues with Tekton .
Hi Schubert,

Imo the requirements of under $1K, low-power SET friendly, and sounds good on chamber music are unlikely to be met by a new speaker.

I suggest Altec Model 14, Model 15, or Model 19. Imo that series of speakers was arguably revolutionary and quite under-appreciated at the time. Right now there's a pair of Model 15's on e-bay for $950.

Duke
Schu in that Titus is somewhat efficient and does not do much bass below 60 hertz or so a few good watts should go relatively far with chamber music in particular. Give it a shot and let me know how it turns out. I have visions of a set amp someday myself starting with the Titus and seeing how it goes. I would expect some good things to be heard.
Schubert,
You may want to reconsider your impression of the Tekton Lore. According to Mikirob that speaker is more than just a mere rock speaker and according to his listening impressions does justice to a variety of genres of music. Just a thought.
Map. yes I still have my Titus202 but I can't see 3 watts doing much for them, but I'll try my 8 watt EE 6Bm8 integrated and see how that goes .
To me cheap is no more than 1 K. I'm aware that Victories
are great , but as I won't be around in 5 years and have nobody to give them to IMO the Save the Child fund or Doctors without Borders should get that much money .

I was always under the impression that Tektons were rockers and there are things I don't like there .

Audiokeninsis, a most excellent post .I came to the same conclusions many years ago and my BS effciency detector is already highly developed, but I could not express it as well as you have .

Fan, thanks for the clue on the Coincident Dynamo. I have
some Mullard, Siemens and Phillips EL34s hanging around
that could use the exercise , good luck with Johnny
Football today .

Thank you , one and all !
Len,

As Charles indicated I really love my Coincident Triumph Extreme IIs. However, at 4K including stands, they are not exactly budget monitors, and at that price, they should deliver the goods (and they do). I will never sell my TEIIs.

Mikirob swears by the Tekton value proposition. He hears as I hear, so if I were looking for something inexpensive, I would start there.

Don't know what amp you have or are considering, but the Coincident dynamo is wonderful at $1250. It is an EL34 based amp running single ended, and has a volume pot so you don't need a preamp if you are using a single source.
Anyone seriously interested in very high efficiency speakers, I would encourage to invest in a modest box modeling program. I see a lot of claims made by manufacturers for bass extension and efficiency that are physically not possible in the size box they are using, unless they make some very optimistic assumptions about boundary reinforcement and/or the contribution of the reverberant field. If you don't believe me, look at Stereophile's measurements of speakers that claim efficiency in the mid-90's or above. Very few come close to delivering on their claims.

Eminence Designer is $79 from Parts Express, and would allow you to make educated evaluations of the claims manufacturers make. This is an easy-to-use and powerful tool, and after a while your own internal "BS detector" will be calibrated well enough that you can just look at a claim and know whether or not it's overly optimistic.

At the very least, something like this would allow you to make valid apples-to-apples comparisons between manufacturers who measure with different yardsticks.

Duke
dealer/manufacturer
Schubert,
Brownsfan is deeply devoted to classical music as you are. He's very happy with the Coincident Triumph Extreme II with an eight watt amplifier. I trust his taste and discrimination. For less money many people seem to be happy with the Tekton Lores.
What is your idea of cheap? The Charney Audio Maestro wit do chamber great at $6500.00
Do you still have the Triangle Titus?

I've always thought these would do quite well with a set for a lot of music including chamber for not much.b. I would give mine a shot before looking elsewhere.