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Easy to drive, outstandingly natural sound from 40-50 Hz up.....AN-E, O/96, others?

If my goal were to find natural-sounding, dynamic, and efficient speakers that can be driven with a somewhat lower-powered a (i.e., 50-watt SS) amplifier, and that work well with a variety of music, would I be looking at AN-Es, O/96s, or which others?
I am not particularly interested in using a 10-20 watt SET, but being able to use something lower-powered than the 300-watt amplifiers required for my 85dB speakers would open up a lot of other amplifier options and simplify things for me.  I have two fairly high-quality powered subs so the goal would be to fill my (moderately large) room from 40-50 Hz and up and let the subs handle the lower registers.
Any thoughts on the two speakers listed, or recommendations for others?
mitch2

Showing 2 responses by helomech

helomech
1,805 posts
 
Another vote for Spatial Audio 
helomech
1,805 posts
 
Take a serious look into the Spatial Audio speakers. Their entry models have a coaxial compression driver (midwoofer functions as horn like Tannoys) with 93db sensitivity. Zero horn "honk." The nominal impedance of their Triode Master M3s/M4s is 12ohms.

I’ve heard some of the other speakers mentioned here, including the ANs and Spendors, and the performance of even the entry-level Spatials is on par. I was almost deterred by their pro-driver compliment but one must keep in mind they are custom spec’d by Spatial, not off-the-shelf units. They can produce high SPLs with just a few watts but are robust enough to power an auditorium. 

I’m very particular about tonal balance, hence my being a fan of Spendor Classics. The Spatials produce a nearly identical midrange (a little better honestly), a bit more sparkle on the top end and superior decay. Never fatiguing. The bass is incredibly defined and better than anything else I’ve had in house. I have their smallest model in a rather large room and the bass impact/slam is still very good. Best thing about them is you can get all this performance for 1/2 the price of comparable ANs or Spendors. 60 day in-home trial.
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