Looking for speakers for my 4W SET amp


I'm looking for some speakers with very high sensitivity for my 4W SET amp.  This is for a 2nd system so I'm not looking to break the bank.  I'm looking into Zu Omen Dirty Weekend, Omega Junior XRS or maybe a DIY project with Audio Nirvana or Lowther drivers.  I've never owned single-driver speakers before and I'm a little nervous to take the plunge.  Any thoughts?

thanks!
adam8179

Showing 2 responses by larryi

Yes, Charney is great, and so is Voxativ, but, I think both qualify as "break the bank" (five figure systems).  For around $3,000 (new), Tekton Double Impacts and Rethm Bhaava are among the best high efficiency systems at less than crazy prices that I've heard.

There are terrific sounding moderately high efficiency systems that would work with a 4 watt amp, such as Audio Note speakers, but, extremely high volume levels cannot be attained with just 4 watts.  

I have not heard any low-cost single driver system that I really liked.  All of the really good ones--e.g., Charney and  Voxative systems, are not cheap.  I've heard some nice systems that were custom-built utilizing single drivers, but, the ones I find acceptable utilized really expensive drivers (AER, Voxativ, G.I.P., Feastrex).  
I have not heard the The TU-8200.  I have heard the TU-8600 (300B amp) and it is a terrific amp for the money.  I am a fan of the 6L6 tube, so I would bet that the TU-8200 is a winner.  I hope you find something that it will drive to a satisfying level.

From my experience, the kind of music that is hardest to achieve a satisfying or realistic listening level with low-powered amps is choral music, particularly acapella choral music.  At surprisingly soft subjective levels, the music seems to fall apart.

You are probably on the right track looking at Zu speakers--they are fairly efficient and easy to drive.  Zu's are very punchy sounding speakers; for some reason, the Zu representatives show them only with solid state amps, so I have not heard them used with low-powered tube gear.   Audio Note AN-K are nice speakers that are also not crazy expensive (they are warmer and more relaxed sounding than Zu speakers); I've heard them with fairly low-powered SET amps (7.5 watts/channel) and with push-pull 6L6 amps and they sound good. 

I have much preferred Lowther drivers used as wide range drivers (used as a midrange), rather than as a full range driver, but, they can be terrific as fullrange drivers in back-loaded horn systems.