$$$Sensitive Speakers with $$Amps?

Hi Kenny,
I believe you`re moving in the right direction and there`ll be no looking back. The Hornings and Rethms are both very good choices. I agree with other posts above in that a good 300b or 845 amplifier(is a used amplifier a consideration?) will certainly provide the sound you seek(life like realism not hifi) I understand the Krell system example you gave above(phony/sterile ultra black background rather than live sense of ambience and background presence). If you do go SS have you considered the First Watt amplifiers, particularly the new SIT version?
Regards,

Kenny with the Horning you`re lucky in that you have many choices available. OTL, DHT tubes as SET or PP design,low power SS(in class A) etc. Just with 300b amps alone there`re so many good choices for less than silly money.Many Horning owners seem to do quite well with 8-10 watts of power. Of course the transformer and power supply can vary significantly at the same power rating.Based on what your priorities are it seems a DHT(2A3,300b, 845 etc)either as SET or PP will give you what you want.OTL is a different sound and certainly has it supporters also.

It would be ideal if you could compare some SET and OTL amplifiers with your speaker of choice and simply hear for yourself.I`m confident you`ll find exactly what you want with some research and patience, I sure did.
Regards,

Kenny are the Hornings you`re interested in the same as Trelja`s? I ask as you heard the Horning driven by the 8 watt 300B Tron SET and found it to your liking very much.Perhaps there`re different woofer arrangements among the various Horning models.My speakers have two 10" woofers per side and are driven very well with my 8 watt SET.I realize this ability to drive is dependent on the particular speaker and certainly which SET amp one is using. Some just have stiffer power supplies and bigger/better transformers than others.I don`t doubt the ability of a good quality 845 amplifier to work well at all.
Regards,

Atmasphere,
Apparently the many who`ve heard the Horning-Tron 8 watt combo would disagree with you and your stated limitations.

Hi Atmasphere,
Wow ,you do listen at higher sound levels then most I`d imagine.Just purely out of curiosity do you have concerns about potential hearing loss at those listening levels?Last night I attended a jazz show featuring a quartet at our local Steinway Piano Gallery and took my extech sound meter along. This group consisted of an alto sax,piano,acoustic bass and drum kit. I was about30- 35 feet from the stage and sound levels C weighted were in the mid 80s db range with occasional drums peak to 95-97db. That level was 'plenty' loud enough yet very comfortable(just beautiful tone and music) no need to play any louder IMO(you could hear everthing!). Those instruments be could played at a much louder level(but why?) 105 db sure is a loud level, but as is always the case, to each their own.
Regards,

Trelja,
Very nice and interesting post!
There are things that happen with audio that are just hard to explain(and sometimes hard for some to except)I was a happy owner of a very good PP tube amplifier(100 watt UL and 60 watt in triode). Along comes an eight watt 300b SET and everything changed,there`s no going back.Interstingly my SET amp also uses an interstage transformer rather than coupling capacitors(not sure of the significance).
Regards,