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Tube Friendly High End "Big" speakers

I've been upgrading my system from good to great. I addressed the analog front end first and now have something respectable (Brinkmann Oasis w/ Graham Phantom II Supreme, Lyra Delos, SimAudio Moon 310LP, and Acrolink 8N Reference Phono Cable.

The system is being driven by a PrimaLuna Premium Dialogue Integrated and the speakers are Opera Seconda's in a smallish dedicated listening room. I'm moving into a much larger house, but will no longer have a dedicated listening room.

The room is 21.5' x 14.5' with lots of big windows and a high v-shaped vaulted ceiling which I'll treat with GIK acoustic panels. Not looking on advice on the room. It is what it is. Just giving a bit of info since I suspect it will be on the lively side. Here's a video. The room starts around the 2:10 mark: http://youtu.be/wrDpTsBDD_M

I'm looking to upgrade the Opera's. I really want a "big" speaker, something that will move some air and pressurize a room like this. My preference is for something tube friendly and I'll likely need to use my PrimaLuna for at least a few months. Not really interested in horns though.

I'm looking for a very 3D soundstage that's velvety smooth. Detail is great, but definitely nothing fatiguing as I tend to listen at higher volumes for extended periods. While I do listen to a lot of Classic Rock and Jazz, I also listen to a lot of more modern music. I want something that isn't going to make this stuff sound terrible.

I'm planning to buy used, so anything that retails up to $55-60K might be doable. TAD and Focal are on my radar right now, but it's difficult to read between the lines from reviewers to understand what will work.

Which speakers should I be considering?
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Showing 3 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,830 posts
 
You want something fairly efficient and tube amp friendly.

Audiokinesis is worth a look. Or how about a paiworl of large JBL horns?

Or use separate powered subs and the choices are endless and probably more cost effective.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,830 posts
 
With tube amps more so than otherwise, for a large room especially, to get it all, you need large speakers with either large drivers or several smaller ones. I'd tend to go with as few large drivers as necessary myself. Using a larger good quality powered sub or two or four solves the problem once set up properly, which is always a requirement for best results.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,830 posts
 
The reason I like the Audiokinesis option, despite having never had a chance to hear these, is the designer's (Duke's) mindset and approach. He does a lot of pro audio I believe and looks to leverage what works there for home audio. Pro audio is all about getting performance efficiencies on a large scale. Duke takes his learning there and applies these towards his "high end" home audio products. Home audio is smaller scale in general and getting good sound not nearly as hard, though the expectations of high end audiophiles tend to set a high bar.

Duke seems to focus a lot on teh speaker/room interaction and how that works, taking some very unique approaches to address this again applying his full body of knowledge to good effect.

Duke's approach is fairly unique in these parts I think and makes his products can't miss IMHO. That despite having never had a chance to hear them..
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