Large sweetspot

Von Schweikert VR4 jr would be a place to start.

Tannoy Definition series (discontinued) or Duevel Bella Lunas. I own the former, I've ordered the latter, largely for the expanded sweet spot.

That's a big space to fill w/a small amp, so I'd be sure to focus on the high efficiency aspect. Cheers, Spencer

Vandersteen 3a Signatures with a Vandy Sub ...

I'll second the vote for the Duevel Bella Lunas--however they are over $4000, unless you're lucky enough to find a used pair--rare. These are high sensitivity speakers, fine for tube amps.

Not talked about here all that often, but Ohm Acoustics Walsh 300 Mk-2 go for $4000. Real large sweet spot. I'd call the owner John Strohbeen to see how they work with tubes.

I would say Kharma but that might be out of your price range.

I would look into Sonus Faber's line of speakers. They are generally designed to project sound upwards and so they should fill your room with sound. 9' ceilings should be perfect for them. They're generally never picky about amps and I think most would find them attractive. And obviously, you won't find too many people who think their speakers are bright or fatiguing. You mind find the Cremona Auditors with or without a REL sub hidden in a corner aethetically pleasing.

Gallo Reference 3. They disappear totally and despite their relatively small size will carry a large room (mine is 18 x 40) beautifully. You can drive them with pracically anything -- I'm using 12 wpc SET monoblocks. Hard to beat at $2600/pr.

Bose 901s!

Klipshorns. If they can't fit then Belle Klipsch. You can't get much more efficient (104 db per watt) and it can fill the area without any problem--even with a 3 watt SET amp.

The Bose is an intersting suggestion. While many audiophiles despise Bose, I have heard them sound pretty good. I heard a swing band using them in a large hall recently. (at least they looked like 901s. Do they have anything for pro use that looks the same?) Up close, they sounded quite harsh, but in the hall, they sounded amazingly good. The horns sounded incredibly rich and lush, with the kind of vibrance that I could hear if I stood right in front of the band to hear the direct unamplified sound, and the highs somehow stepped in line. However, the dance was in a very large hall, and I had to be at least 15' away for them to sound good. I suspect your room is probably not big enough for them, though.

Agree with Rives, tube amp is the icing on the cake.

Dave

I'll make the Klipschorn recommendation a hat-trick. As Rives suggests, you'll need two adjacent corners with solid walls to place them in (either that or be prepared to build a false corner). Also, don't be afraid to get the older K-horns from the late 70's early 80's as they were as great back then as they are today. Good single-owner examples show up on the used market, but definitely look for examples you could go and check out and pick up yourself. You don't want to think about shipping them. I'd agree that Belle's would be an excellent alternative if you don't have the corners to work with. Tubes are a must with Klipsch IMO and that combination is heaven to my ears.

Marco