As has been mentioned one needs to start with speaker selection. Which tends to be a personal preference. And clearly efficiency will impact your amp selection. For example I have Magnepan 20.7s which are probably one of the most realistic sounding speakers where the performers appear in your room and to my personal taste, and I think would more than energize your room. However their efficiency is low 86 db so you need lots of power to bring them to life. In my experience greater than 250 watts in 8 ohm, 500 wt into 4ohm. Mine are 350 into 8 and 700 into 4. Point being cost can becomes a factor with speaker section. Suggest attending a major show or vendor for narrowing down your selection after some homework on reviews. Enjoy the journey
Determining compatibility with amps
I have a pairing that has been wonderful to me and I may also be looking to set up another similar price-point system (streaming only, larger room) in another house we may build as snow-birds. While very happy now, I want to know more about how to pick speaker and amp pairs to make them more compatible and not ill-advised. No, I don't get to audition equipment (I live in Alaska). There is not a club here. Heck, there's only BestBuy with a Magnolia room. Just "let your ears be your guide" isn't a big help. Help me understand how I can narrow the search for "kinds" of speakers and topologies of amps for my possible upcoming build. I have gathered that using speaker plots, it's the areas where the phase drops below zero (capacitive), coinciding with low impedance that are to to be avoided. I've looked at several sets and can see for example, why series XOs might be desirable. I guess I'm asking is, what values/relationships constitute "be careful" or "avoid"? And if there technically are real issues, what are the audible affects, or kinds of audible distortions one might expect? While I'm not married to tube amps, switching to this one was a very large improvement. I love the voicing/timbre, imaging, and they definitely disappear. It's almost scary.
I'll ask to avoid making pairing suggestions but instead try to help me understand, "these (kinds) are good for this kind of amp because"... My virtual system is up and I've included my speakers' plots as an example by which to comment or use as an example. I welcome using them as a discussion point. FWIW, my amp has an 80hz hi-pass that I use. One reason I like it, as mid-sized stand mounts seem to be what I lean towards, is this aids with integrating subs. Maybe the best answer is to duplicate it all! I may be traveling soon so I may not post often but will read everything for sure! I've got a technical background (the reason I ask) but not in EE so be gently. Curious minds just want to know.