Best speakers under $3K for tube amps,

I second Cabasse, I have Cabasse Catalane, retail price was around 6k but you can find them now and then for around 2k which is a steal by any standard...
I run them with 12 watts and passive preamp and they bring down the house with 94 db sensitivity....
A friend use to have B&W 905 small nautilus monitors and they are definitely way behind any cabasse I heard and they needed a lot of watts also.
JMLab is a good option also I think they have lower sensitivity, like 91 or 92 db though I never heard a JMlabs speaker I liked, but that is just me...
On my short list was also Merlin speakers, they are built for tubes supposedly though the sensitivity is lower, they have such good reviews it kinda makes me suspicious, I hear a lot of good things also about the owner Bobby Pavlovick (I think) but I emailed him and he never answered...
If you like classical music (Bartok) I would not go for a monitor, my take is they cannot resolve very complicated passages, IMHO.
My next speakers will be an Array, I never heard an array I didnt like, soundstage is amazing, sensitivity is way up there at 100 db depending on the model and design, and dynamics are great, If you biamp for bass I think it will give the best Horn system a run...
There are some kits around for Arrays, Zalitron I think has a couple....
All the Best

Horn designs are wayyyy to big to my taste. My Thors blend into any size room. Even in a small room their presence do not attack you.

The Klipsch Heritage or Reference line of speakers. Horns love tubes.

"chazzbo often has pretty good points...." Yes his typos are bad, but as you say has more to say that many others with better spelling.
Still waiting on more high sensitivity suggestions.
I thought Scan speaks were, but they rate at 87 like their cousins the seas'.
Another interesting speaker may be Cabasse's top line, with the white foam cone drivers. Anyone know the specs/sound response?
A little known line in the USA, made in france.
I found the Cabasse Jersey better than the spendor 8 the other day. Spendor8/$3100, Jersey/$1100.

I'm running a pair of original JMlabs Micro-Utopias on 24 watts of EL-34 power and couldn't be happier. The sound is big and room filling, albeit a smallish room, and as detailed and transparent as anyone could want. They can usually be found used for $2500-3000 and they're a super value. Best speakers I've ever owned, and before I got them I thought I'd always go with floorstanders for the bass. Boy was I wrong!!

Chaz, interesting that you mention "you'd be better off with another 3db (89db effectively doubles your power)." Your last part of the sentence I fail to understand.
So just 3 db points make all that much difference. I think I'm getting this idea of db level, a hard concept for many audiophiles.

I see there is another topic about cone materials best for tubes, I'll post a note there as well.
So is you havea 3 way, MTM design, and a 2 way midwoofer/tweet design, botn using same drivers, at 87 db, will the results from a tube amp be the same in both. Which is low dynamics/little drive power.
I figured the 2 way would respond better. Nut I get the idea it is not so, the difference will be slightly better bass..

chazzbo often has pretty good points, but man he is the typo king...wow! :)

Canm never undertsnad even thought tubes are second m,ost im portant arbiter of osund why folks choose speakers according to amps.If you have an ampo like a Cary 805 C thier quality and cost make it more reasonable but I am of a mind that one should chose speakers since they have greatest ipact on sound.
But to answer your question load should be same and don't think make of tube makes adifference.Also you are going fopr a pentode amp not SET so that's not problem where you need 84db or better.But twith 40-60 wats tw0 ways with EL34's for that dead on midrange warmth and eauphopnics is good.Yet you have to be carefull in matching.I sold B&W for 6 years and though best value in line was the 803 ZNatutilus.Anmd while they were rated for 90db sensivity and thus should have been able to get by with say a CJ MV55 or 60 they had a nasty impedance swing which would go so low they would run out of gas so sensitiviy is not always the best spec ( or is thier any) to know how much spower they will require with larger floor stander.,The Pentode 60 watts would work well the 805 two way beautifully and even the smaller floor stander 804 but you'd need 100 wats and right impedance to run it properly/Was good post whioch explained it much more indetail than I am now so if you just run through past couple of days of posts you'll find it.But listen to speaker you like ,get a dealer who knows thier product and then tell tham what you'd like to run it with.Given investment you can ask to bring amp in to hook up but that mayber more than you want to do.Yet I though I would think you'd be ebter off with another 3db over 86db (89db efectively doubles your power) you might be able to swing it with this epaker depending on how much cyurrenbt you've got.
G'luck
Chazzbo

I have a set of Spendor S5e speakers that I use with my Conrad Johnson MV60 tube amp. Very nice combo, though they are 87dB sensitivity, not 86. Spendor also makes a couple of other models at or just under your price point. They are very natural, musical sounding speakers that have been highly regarded for many years.

Please don't get caught up with the number of drivers and other such issues. There are some very fine 2 way speakers out there and some other 2 ways that are problematic. The load a speaker presents an amp is dependent on a whole host of factors from the drivers, to the crossover and even cabinet design. Just go listen. You may end up surprised with what you find you like.

I would try ANY of the System Audio floorstanders.