Raven Audio and Beyond...

Something to consider in picking a speaker first. There are a lot of amps, yes. Depending on your choice of speaker however you may wind up with virtually zero amps to choose from. Or very poor choices. Search around for all the time and trouble people have had taking this approach. If all you do is consider the speaker then at least be intelligent about it and exclude from consideration anything below about 92dB, as anything below this and you quickly run into a situation where only 100+ watt amps will do.

The Raven Blackhawk is a truly fine amp. As it turns out, a lot of the very best sounding amps are even lower power. There are some pretty fine amps in the 50-60 watt range as well. Above there and it gets real hard (read, expensive) real fast to find quality sound in 100 watt and up amps. Real hard. A lot of us would say impossible. No matter how much money you have to throw at it.

Being on a budget it is simply not responsible to say pick a speaker without making this tradeoff as clear as can be. 

Stick with speakers in the mid-90's and up sensitivity wise, and you will find it very easy (read, affordable) to find a truly high quality amp to drive them. 

I would say without a doubt given your current setup the Raven with your current speakers will sound a lot better than the other way around doing the speaker first. Way better. Like no contest.

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Well Ralph, Thats your MA series OTL’s on the Naughty Step then @atmasphere

Most of your responses are helpful.

To you all, I hope it came through that I wonder and appreciate insight rather than a commitment to some folly knucklehead charge into wastes.

Understanding what sensitivity means in matching up with an amp helps.  Definitely was beyond my understanding, but I see it's importance in matching up the relationship between amp and speakers.  I like lightbulbs. 

I think a couple of you are not understanding this key point:  The next two moves, amp and speakers, will take me some time.  Maybe a year or two.  No joke.  I have approx. 3-5k willing to appropriate at this time.

MC, I caught what you were getting at last night about matching amp and speakers.  In regards to your post here a bit ago, it makes sense.  Satisfaction with any upgrade in the shortterm, you see the amp, a good amp, the Raven in question, with more return than going after speakers first.

Toomic, the considerations for a smaller step into a less robust amp, bump with a couple subs and go from there is on the table.  In the terms of longterm planning, I may be making too big a jump going after such a hi-end amp to basically wait for me to catch up, lol.  I know you didn't outright point this out, but it is coming up as I consider the entire mix.   I looked up what a high pass filter is.  Seems useful where/when needed.   Not sure where/when or what conditions in audio playback require that piece.

Mapman, I'm not attached to Dyns.  Just have the X14s, for now.  Your words about speaker first echo lots of the points others have shared throughout all kinds of posts similar to my own queries.  MCs points help me see what a good amp with the speakers I have would do. Within limits. Helpful, yeah or do you disagree that a good set of speakers would showcase the limited amp moreso?

Artemus, yeah, this Pioneer is truly the current weakest link. 

tsushima1, what's your deal? You've not offered up experience/insight helpful to me. I can distinguish between opinion, info, and guidance. Your posts fall flat at all three. Not that I doubt you know something, but you've not provided any content. Makes me wonder what your deal is. No offense meant here.

@mijale

If it were me I would do the homework up front to identify what you envision your end system to be and then move towards that. You have prettty good speakers to work with and a lesser amp it seems. Any amp upgrade should be a step in the right direction. The amp should then be A key factor in determining speaker options. There are many possibilities depending on personal preference. The devil is always in the details. A lesser power tube amp will limit speaker choices for optimal performance but that may be fine as long as you take that into consideration.

Absolutely no worries whatsoever @mijale 

What I find disconcerting about your post being that I rather suspect that you know very fine and well that your speakers of choice are not a suitable match for a 20 Watt stereo amplifier yet you appear to allow yourself to be enchanted in the BS peddled by MC that ( for reasons an enquiring mind may speculate upon)