Please Recommend Highly Efficient Floor Standing Non-Horn Speaker Suggestions

Fritz Audio and Salk Audio are highly recommended here for easy to drive speakers. I have Zu Omen Defs which are super sensitive and only need a few watts to drive. I really like them, especially how they separate each instrument and vocal so clearly. The worst thing about them is they are extremely sensitive to placement. Quite the learning curve for me.

http://coincidentspeaker.com/speakers.htm Owned a pair of the Triumph monitors years ago and they were solid performers. Israel has been doing this successfully for a long time.

Legacy, Fyne, NMST, Zu just off the top of my head. If you are using tube amplification you want a speaker with stable impedance that doesn’t go below 4 ohms. Salks need power.

+1 Zu Audio - Soul 6

Thank you thus far.  FYI: Amp is MC275 VI.  I have Legacy Focus SEs being driving by MC611s in another system and love them.  Perhaps Legacy Signature but I need a smaller footprint for the speakers I want to drive with the MC275.  Also, my pre-amp is a McIntosh C2700.  Release the anti-McKraken!

Apologize if this is redundant but the threads here all seem to recommend horn speakers for tube amps.

HMMMM maybe there's a reason?

Since no price range was mentioned:
Arion Apollo 105db efficient AMT line array but are 4 ohm. 

Omego Audio in Ct . 

Strictly speaking “highly efficient” means more than 100dB sensitivity, and there’s no way around that sans horns - indeed we’d be in all-horn territory here. If the 90-95dB sensitivity range will suffice - that is, it seems it must - that are some options. Have you considered Daedalus Audio?

Check out Reference 3A  i use their standmount speakers with my 4 watt tube amp Decware mini Torii and if it nice and loud in a 12 by 20 room

Flies under the radar as a Canadian company, but Verity Audio makes some of the best speakers I’ve ever heard and are also high efficiency. 

I have been very, very impressed with Ascend Acoustics Sierra Tower with RAAL tweeter. I plan to do a write up, soon, but these are my main speakers now. Their tweeters are really top notch; very clear without the harshness of other metal dome tweeters I’ve heard. They are not at the top of the speaker, and that, too, is a design plus. The bass is quite good but, more important for me, they mate extremely seamlessly with my subs.

Don't get bogged down with sensitivity specs, thought these are over 90db, effectively. More important, look at the impedance graphs -- barely dips below 5 ohms, if memory serves. I also have Salks, but they are stand mounts and harder to drive well.

Ascend is a great company to work with. They really know what they’re doing. Very responsive over email, phone. I am driving them with Quicksilver Mono 60wpc and even with KT77 tubes, they have plenty of get up and go. They sing with my Pass XA 25. At the $3k price point, I don’t think I could have found a better match for my gear.

 

Tekton, Zu, Devroe, Raven Audio CeLest, QLN Sonora,

Most Triangles are very tube friendly, maybe not for set amps but all low power amps. 

Tannoy

Stenheim Alumine 2.

Oops.  Not floorstander, can't delete.

@jtcf I love my Salks, but if you look at a fair number of the speakers on his site, they are not easy to drive. The HT speakers are better but by and large, I would say this is a major lacuna for the company.

Fritz speakers were driven easily by my tube amps. They are delightful sounding, voiced with sensitivity and genuine expertise. I think they provide exceptional value.

Audio Note AN-E.

Check out Pure Audio Project.

Many hi efficiency non horn speakers are single driver speakers like Omega or Lowthers or back loaded horn cabinets.  I’ve been in this hobby 40 years and used to sell audio gear at the retail level & wouldn’t necessarily suggest high efficiency speakers with a Mac 275 amp.  I certainly would with a low powered SET amp though.

So far is seems that you have a contemporary 75 watt MC275 VI tube amp with no mention of room size/layout/listening habits/budget.

More info would be helpful for informed feedback.

Also, are you not interested in horn "based" speakers at all?

DeKay

 

 

@OP

You may consider , speakers with AMT  tweeter.

I think AMT tweeter is a bit like an harmonica.  It may pair well with tube gear

Audiovector has AMT tweeter.

You might like the Wolf von Langa SON. Cutting edge field coil drivers, dipole presentation, happy with 18 watts. Sounds alive.

 

Here’s a nice review: HFA - Wolf von Langa SON

What, no love for Tekton? ;-)

A high quality speaker using the excellent Beyma AMT Tweeter-Midrange with a wave guide, midBass and powered Low  Bass below 90 Hz 

Spatial Audio technologies X3, X5 Loudspeakers  and very fair priced between $7 and $9k.

Audiovector! Speakers of the year 2021 in Stereophile. 
 

 

Haven’t heard, but I’m intrigued by Coherent Audio in Canada.

No one has mentioned Spatial Audio Labs or GR-Research open baffle/dipole designs.

VERITY... CLARITY

COINCIDENT... WARM

TEKTON... FABULOUS FOR THE PRICE

Tekton, absolutely. 

Cube Audio

@hilde45 of course you would know better than I,having actually owned them! Those are the first that came to mind that many seem happy with. I also forgot about Cube Audio.I was close to buying a pair of Ascends myself, but got an offer too good to refuse on the Zus.I'll look forward to your review:-)

give the monitor audio platinum 200 Gen 2 or 300 Gen 2 and listen that MPD tweeter is the best in the world right now, goes up to 100,000 clean, no other tweeter on the market can do that, so it makes everything lower down sound that much better.

Among my favorites are Charney Audio Companion (Particularly with AER driver option), Cube Audio Nenuphar Basis, Fyne Audio F1, Audio Note AN-E..

Devore Orangutan series.

Omega Loudspeakers. They're beautiful, efficient and sound fantastic.

Tekton Design

 

@alphonsodamato 

Perhaps Legacy Signature but I need a smaller footprint for the speakers I want to drive with the....

I looked at the Legacy Signature and the enclosure looks close to minimal allowable for the woofers.  Are you looking for a smaller speaker which likely means smaller woofers?  Seems that even bookshelf speaker stands have similar footprints to floor standers. 

Your 75 watt MC275 VI tube amp will drive a lot of great speakers.  What's your budget?

Get a modern pair of Klipsch Heresy speakers and simply leave the grills on.

Just adding my humble 2 cents.

if you don’t mind dipping slightly below to 89dB sensitivity, take a look at the Kharma CRM 3.2 FE or their similar models. The 3.2 was reportedly voiced with a pair of single ended Lamm ML2. Just prepare to feed it with high quality front end because thats the only way to extract the best from these speakers. They are extremely revealing. Speaker load is very easy with tube friendly phase and impedance.

The 3.2 throws a very natural soundstage as deep and wide as your recording allows. Image is rock sold and believable is a smooth analog manner. This is one of the few speaker I have the pleasure to own that doesn’t need room correction and sound completely uncolored. I have no problem driving them with a pair of 90 Watts Class A to reasonable loud levels.

FWIW...The MC275 will drive my Focal Kanta No.2s just fine and they are rated at 91dB. Since they tend to drop to less than 3 ohms at 105Hz the 4-ohm taps are often preferred. 

+1 for NSMT Model 50. 100 dB. I've used with 45, 2A3, 300B, First Watt M2 

If you want to use very low power tube amps there are only a few choices that are not horn speakers.

In my system the Luxman MB-3045 tube amps at about 60 wpc are an excellent match for the ProAc Response D-40r (90db)

+1 kanta 2 or 3 

Another mention the DeVore Orangutans. Outstanding speakers that work great even on SET power outputs.

DCM Time Windows can crack the plaster with a 50 watt amp! My favorite speaker for the past five years! 

+1 on Zu Audio speakers.

I was lucky enough to get a pair of the fully uprgraded Dirty Weekends from the last and final run. (Caveat—during pandemic w/shortages I waited 9months)

These show up for sale now again, but Sean over at Zu says they’ll bring a similar product to market soon.  

When your wife, who normally wishes you would “keep it down”, says, “whoa! I’ve never heard that before in this piece!” Or “these sound closer to “live” than I’ve ever heard!”, you’re onto something.

I normally push them with a peachtree Nova 150. However, given they’re high sensitivity, playing with other amps has been a lot of fun as well as instructive in the hobby.

…but with the nova and the ODWs I can run everyone out of the house and get the neighbors upset.😅

best of luck!

dgc

@alphonsodamato : High efficiency makers (>95 db) - wide range of prices. All made in North America or have dealers in North America (one or two exceptions)

Would also focus on impedance - with these sort of speakers should be able to have 8 or 6 ohms. Would not buy a 4 ohm speaker

At 90 - 95db sensitivity, there are additional brands not mentioned below (which your amp would easily drive, if the speaker is 8 or 6 ohms)

Caintuck (open baffle, mostly)

Classic Audio

Coherent Audio

Creation Audio (Australia, however)

Cube Audio

Daedalus

Fern & Roby

Fleetwood Sound ($)

Goodwin Speakers

Lii Audio

NSMT

Ocellia (France, $)

Omega Speakers (mentioned above)

Pure Audio Project (open baffle)

Spatial (open baffle)

Zu

(The Salks and Ascends mentioned above seem to be of pretty ordinary efficiency, unless I am missing something. Left out Klipsch because of large footprint. I may have left out something mentioned above it’s by accident)

Fun question - let us know as you start to narrow things down, would be great to hear your thinking!

Have a great day

+1 ZU Soul VI

I am thinking about buying a pair of Fyne speakers.  They are easy to drive and come in many price points. The ones I've heard have sounded great. 

You should probably state a price range you are thinking about. 

GoldenEar Triton Reference