"Best" bookshelf/monitor for low-power amp?

Looks like Reimer website is having some problems? Are they out of business?

Can anyone compare the Devore Gibbon 7.1 with the below?

Reordering the short list:

Reference 3A: MM De Capo i
GMA Eos III
Zu Tone

I'm interested in the Reimer's though. Just concerned they've imploded.

I've heard the Silverlines but was unimpressed. Nice speakers, but I was driving them with a SET and they just seemed like they'd be much happier with significantly more power. This was at a Cary dealer, btw, the 300SEI vs the 306 amp -- the latter, widely regarded as a not terribly refined Class D amp, blew away their very highly regarded SET. Personally, I just think the poor amp got sucked dry by those speakers, and I don't want it to happen with my tripath.

Triangles don't seem particularly efficient, nor the Ushers. Not that that's everything, but it's something. Again, my concern from the Silverline experience hits here too.

Anyway, anything else to throw in the hopper?

Thanks to all for the input ....

Here it is, 4 years later, and I have exactly the same question! It's funny, I guess I forgot all about this thread.

Anyway, since 2008, I bought Merlin speakers and then sold them. I'm in a bigger room now, and am currently running some Magnepan 3.7s.

So, why revisit? Well, I want to build out "System 2". This would be a desktop system, nominally, but one that I could run in the "main rig" if I absolutely need to (for testing, say), but would mostly sit in "free space" (no rear wall anywhere near them.

Here's what I'm looking at (from shortest to tallest, with 15" being the biggest I'm interested in for now):

Silverline Minuet Supreme Plus
Proac Tablette Anniversary
Reference 3a Dulcet
Neat Petite SX
Harbeth P3ESR (no bass)
Totem Element Ember (comes out next week)
Silverline SR 17 Supreme (may be too big)
DeVore Gibbon 3xl

Prices range from $700-$7000, which isn't terribly helpful, but I'm looking for the following, more or less in order:

Great resolution and detail
Dynamics & speed
Tube friendly (6ohms min, higher is better)
As much bass as I can get, given the other criteria

I will be running this with tubes and/or smaller desktop-sized integrateds mostly, and could be a mix of low-power tubes and/or oddball solid state amps.

More suggestions are always welcome!

Great suggestions -- keep 'em coming!

I think the PSB speakers are very nice, and I'm especially fond of the Synchrony One. But they're harder to drive than their specs suggest. Kinda like Focal 1008Be or Usher Tiny Dancer or B&W 805d -- all excellent brands, all excellent speakers. But all of those designs just do better with more watts than what most tube amps can put out.

Absolutely love the look of Sonus Faber, but thought they were all 4ohm speakers. The Toy Speaker seems to have upped the ante to 8ohms, which certainly makes it a contender. I'm a little concerned about the lack of bass, but I need to find out more about this one.

As for Tekton, Eric is working on something new right now: a compact 2-way that leverages a Fostex for most of the range. High sensitivity in a small footprint -- that should be very interesting. Eric does great work.

But all things being equal, the Joseph Audio Pulsars would have solved this "problem" for me. While they're not necessarily terribly sensitive (mid-80s), they sound so good I really don't even care. They're a bit big, however (17" tall), which makes them unsuitable for near field. I did have them here to try out, but I think their free air (read: not up against a wall or even a wall anywhere near their back) performance sounds best when you're sitting back from them, around 5', when all that bass integrates in. Then, they're pretty much untouchable. But again, I was hoping for something more compact in the 3' listening near field. I think less than 15" tall would do the trick perfectly.

Which precludes the Merlin TSM as too tall (16") for my use case. Full disclosure: I've owned several pairs of Merlin speakers and have sold them all.

Moving on to other bad experiences, single drivers, as a rule, do bad things at frequency extremes. This really can't be helped in that kind of design and those compromises tend to bug me. Love coherence (I have Maggies, so that's very familiar), love the mid range, but bass and treble tend to go to The Bad Place. Not ragging, just saying it's not really my cuppa.

The Yara from Audio Physic are only 4ohms, which makes them unsuitable for most tube amps (not all, just most), and I want something I can drive well with many different amps. The Step 25, however, is 8ohms. Need to check that one out, too.

I have a pair of Vaughn Loudspeaker Pinot Monitors on the way in, too. They're too tall (17") for my desktop, but they're 94dB and 8ohms. Fostex mid/woofer and a ribbon tweeter with a passive cone radiator. They may have all the "criteria" to make me reconsider my current layout. We'll see.

I also have a pair of Sjofn Hifi (the clue) being sent in for review. Those are really neat and are designed to work up against a wall. If they sound as good here as they did at RMAF, they may actually anchor a 3rd system.

As for amps, I love the Manley Stingray, and the Manley aesthetic, generally, but the line feels a bit expensive now. The Stingray is very ballsy, which is fun, but it is a bit large! Haven't ruled it out, but haven't really ruled it in, either.

I have a Red Wine Audio Signature 15 on loan right now (never did pull the trigger on the 30.2), but I'm looking for a tube amp to make the speakers go. Once I settle on the speakers, I'll start sorting out the amp. I have a few thoughts, including the following tube integrateds:

LM Audio 211 EL34
Almarro 318b
PrimaLuna DiaLogue Two
Decware Zen Torii
Luxman SQ-38u
Leben CS600

Just an update. It's down to either a Joseph Audio Pulsar (if I can scrape together the cash) or a DeVore Fidelity 3XL (if I can scrape together the cash).

I seem to be having cash flow problems.

Well, not problems per se, but rather, I can't seem to stop buying music. And iPads (mine shows up tomorrow!). And trips to audio shows. Sheesh.

Thanks!

The Pulsar is a special speaker. Wish it was cheaper, but pricing discussions are always tough to fight through. In the end, the price is whatever it is, you know?

Still struggling through this ....

I really like those speakers. And the Pulsars. Guess I'm indecisive. Or something. ;-)