In my opinion, the speaker and the room are what you hear and feel the most. With that stated, I have always preferred a high powered, class A amp(in my case a Coda Model 16) paid with a tube preamp/line stage(Aric Audio Motherlode) and tube phono(Manley Steelhead). The Class A and the tube combo give you all the lush dynamics and punch that you need and you are far less limited in your speaker choice in regards to efficiency.
