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High eff speakers? Sonata III, Super III, OR ???

Greetings to all of you happy high eff speaker owners!

It’s important to be convinced. Finally, I am.

I’m looking to get into a pair of high eff speakers to run a as yet to be determined, 15 50 wpc, or so, SET amp (s).

In fact the amp may only be 8 or 10 wpc, I’m simply not sure which one. Maybe not 300b’s, as I am prone to busier and larger scale music at times. Sorry if that line shows my ignorance about low power amps.

My room is right at 14, by 20.75, by 8.6 gently sloped. They will sit on the short wall end.

I dig all sorts of music. My defaults are big band jazz & blues, vocalists. Contemporary jazz, acoustical and R&B… every now and then some gangsta bluegrass.

I’m looking to spend around $3K, give or take used or new, but probably used is the first thought.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated as I have absolutely no clue here apart from the Silverline and Coincident I already mentioned… and Ive not heard either of them! So I'm wide open to any thoughts and especially experiences in this regard.

PS if your real world experience shows your choice (s) need a sub, please say so.
blindjim
newbee
4,751 posts
 
FWIW, if you're committed to getting a set amp and efficient speakers (other than horns) do some research on the interface of the amp's output impedence and the speakers imput impedence curves. Amps output impedence with tube amps is a largly undiscussed issue but is very important especially if you have a speaker with large impedence swings off nominal and they don't compliment the out put impedence changes from the amp. Its not simple, especially if you want to avoid chasing equipment that will not match.

Some quick, down and dirty discussions can be found in posts by Duke (Audiokensis).
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,184 posts
 
I owned Silverline Sonata II's driven by Pathos Twin Towers Reference. Very nice combo, but could have benefitted from a musical sub (I can recommend the REL Storm III). The Sonata III's have different drivers and are slightly less efficient than the II's. I've heard very good things about Coincident speakers as well, but have never heard them.
metralla
945 posts
 
I have Coincident Super Eclipse II with 8 watt Welborne Labs Laurel IIx 300Bs. I added the Feet Extenders and the big spikes 18 months ago - nice improvement. My room is roughly the same size as yours, but I have mine on the long wall.

The Supers don't come up that often on the AudiogoN market place, and when they do, they seem to hold their value better than other $5500 speakers. So you may have trouble getting a pair at $3k.

I listen to lots of acoustic music, light jazz, female vocals, but a smattering of classic rock. I've been playing the ELO "A New World Record" remaster recently.

I use a BAT VK-50SE preamp, and the volume is rarely above 50 (max is 140), but I have an apartment so I don't crank it up. The sound is quite refined and suits my tastes.

Regards,
Post removed 
blindjim OP
3,092 posts
 

Newbee I'll look into that bit. I didn't think impedance matching was that important between amp & speakers though. thanks for the heads up.

Metralla
I appreciate the notes on the SE III. I'm in no hurry at all, and might wind up with something other than the two I mentioned. I believe $3k is fair enough a figure, and perhaps some less depending on ownership, age, etc. some do say otherwise though and that's fine too. It's a good thing for equipment to keep it's value... so long as the value is descriminatory, and not simply due to the make and model. Background does play a part IMO.

Again, I'm not dead set on the notion of either a Sonata or Super, I just threw them out there as I had some familiarity with them thus far.

Any other suggestions on them or on different makes & models are certainly needed and appreciated.

If it's a help, I'm inclined to go with Art, Cary, Canary, or VAC by way of amp. Perhaps others, but I'm comfortable with them as my short list.
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