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Efficient, affordable speakers for SETs?

Ever since I discovered the magic of SETs, I have been hooked and could never go back to “sand amps” or non SET tube amps. (Yes, I know they are dirty and colored but I love the soft clipping!) The seemingly endless problem has been finding speakers that not only function well with just a few watts of power but get the most out of the limited power and also sound real. Tried Lowthers in Medallion enclosures and some other enclosures but ultimately not very natural or satisfying. Realized that a two way speaker properly crossed over to a tweeter was best and found a speaker that was specifically designed to play with 8 300B watts. The Tetra 506s (worth checking out Tetraloudspeakers.com and the great musicians who use them!). Does anyone know other two way speakers designed to work well with SETs?
mglik

Showing 3 responses by mglik

mglik OP
913 posts
 
Thanks for the additional recommendations! The Klipschorns are the first high efficiency speaker I ever heard. Klipsch speakers are not my cup of tea. Pretty bright.
A lot of people swear by Zu speakers.
I only heard them once in an Audio industry friend’s house with his super expensive 2A3 amp and like digital front end. I wanted to run out of that room. Hard to imagine a higher end set up or a higher level industry guy. But I don’t want to rule out Zu speakers. It is just that their sound did not sit well. Surprised that no one mentioned Avant-garde. Over my price but the latest ones seem amazing. Even though MP4, the best YouTube I have heard in titled “Garrard 301 vs Studer”. A super system with AG second from the top pushed by a Nagra 300B.
The Charney Voxativ speakers are very interesting. Looks like the cheapest way to get into the fabulous Voxativs!
I have found that dB sensitivities are not nearly as important as the impedance curve. My Tetra 506s are 90dB but only dip down to 6 ohms staying mostly at a flat 8 ohms. And they were designed and voiced with 8 watts of 300B. Mine run very clear and unstressed.
I do imagine that they might put out more sound with more power but at my listening levels I hear a lot of information. Do feel I am hearing the unstressed character of the speakers. And I have realized, more than anything, that the character of the speaker is most vital. Assuming the right amp match, a speaker’s voice must be “digestible and delicious”. Is it perfect, who cares!

mglik OP
913 posts
 
Some great recommendations! Thanks. I would have never thought of Golden Ear. Wow. Sandy has developed them for years and they sure are popular. Only problem is that my wife would kill me (low WAF!). My budget is around $10K and my room is medium size.
Trenner and Friedl is super interesting. They are really beautiful and have been well received. Love the Austrian history of music and looks like that sensitivity is applied to the T&F speakers. I had some experience with PHY drivers. The Ocellia speaker uses them and is very sensitive but not dynamic enough. Audio Note UK are an industry standard for decades but their output is also somewhat limited. The Ocellia and AN seem good for classical and Jazz. I really like Louis at Omega. And his speakers are a great value. Do love two ways. The best sounding one I ever heard was the Kharma S7. It is over $20k and not an SET friendly speaker. But I walked into that Kharma room at CES and was immediately stunned by the real sound. It was powered by a SS amp. I guess they aren’t so bad.
I have found that you really have to match the amp with the speaker. They are like the “two hands clapping” in a system.
mglik OP
913 posts
 
FWIW its impossible to design any hifi audio product to favor a certain genre of music. 
Hey Ralph!
Thanks for your input.
I certainly respect your decades of a business significantly focused on
all things audio and, significantly, matching amp with speaker.
I understand that there are many technical factors matching components and speakers beyond sensitivity and impedance.
My technical knowledge is limited to common sense and my ears.
I, mostly, disagree with this statement. Regarding amp/speaker, one cannot say that a high powered amp is not designed to supply the juice needed for high sound output. And that a large speaker system is not designed similarly?
Another point is that I do believe, especially limiting the low frequency output of my 90db flat 8 ohm Tetra 506s with a good Rel sub gives me "the most" out of speakers. Taken into consideration that the voicing of the speakers was with 8 watts of 300B. I do understand that a 100db+ speaker is an entirely different story from a physical/tech perspective.
Surely, an Ocellia is not a "Rock and Roll" speaker and is more suited to the dynamics of Jazz. Is it not greatly contingent on a speaker's physicality?
Just a personal note to you, maybe 30+ years ago I called you thinking of buying one of your amps to power my Quad 57s. You graciously turned me away saying that my then Bedini 15/15 was a great amp for the 57s. A quite belated thanks!


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