Admittedly a bit lost


Folks

I am a long time music lover who is dipping his toes into high end audio for the first time. I have long enjoyed high quality headphones (Sennheiser HD650) and earphones (Etymotics all the time) but have not spent the big bucks (that I don't have) for high-end equipment. :)

However, I have recently acquired a Jolida tube amp (40W output) and am looking for good speakers to pair with them. I intend to go around listening to a bunch of speakers but I need to at least narrow down what sort I should ask my local dealers to have available for me to try. That is what this thread is about.

My constraints are thus:
- My musical tastes run the gamut from classical choral pieces (Bach's cantatas and mass, Arvo Part, Hilliard Ensemble's works etc - i.e. all mid-range frequencies) to experimental electronic music (Autechre, Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus etc - i.e. deep sub-bass and full-frequency spread music with absolutely zero traditional instruments and every sound is synthesized).
- My amp is a 40W tube amp
- I live in an apartment and so listen at volumes ranging from low to moderate.
- My budget for speakers is about $3K (slightly flexible).

With those constraints, my dilemma is that I don't know if I should be trying out high-efficiency speakers or low-efficiency ones? Should I look for 8ohm speakers or 4ohm ones? Something tells me that with low power tube amps, I should be looking at a high efficiency low impedence speaker. However, will that sort of speaker be able to navigate the high speed bass attack of electronic music when driven by an amplifier such as mine?

I am not sure where to begin, so I would really like some advise from folks here. Thank you so much!
badri
@Melbguy1 - OP has been mostly overwhelmed with the quality and amount of kind & detailed advise he has been getting. After the time delay it takes to get the post reviewed, I only noticed on Monday that this thread had grown into a wonderful treasure trove of information.

@Whart, @ Audiokinesis - I can't believe the amount of time you have taken to provide me the advise you did. Thank you so much for taking the time to do so. Both of your advise also centers on finding the speaker I like more than finding the right speaker for the amp I have right now. I will definitely keep that in mind.

@Whart - thank you for the reading recommendation. I will certainly give that a read.

To all the other people on this thread that have been so generous with your time, I will need to take some time on Saturday to read each of your posts and reply back to each of you. In the meantime, please keep the advise coming. I am literally soaking it all in - at times resorting to jotting down the advise in my notebook so that I remember it. This is - as many people point out - something that appears will take me a little while to decide. So the information will be welcome.
Some other points I should have mentioned is some details on what kind of speakers I have now and where I live - in case that plays a part in your recommendations for dealers.

I have floor standing speakers made by Energy - specifically the C-300. http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Standing-Speaker-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B0012004K8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

I live in San Francisco - in the city. I am currently talking to folks at AudioVisionSF (http://www.audiovisionsf.com/) on California St & Polk St. There are at least a couple of others in the city (and Berkeley) that I think I should hit up.
Badri, fair call. Hopefully you've got some good options out of the responses so far (including my own).
Badri, you are lucky to have a good choice of dealers in the area. You should be able to find an excellent speaker. In your quest, be sure to listen to speakers that are above your budget. It is helpful to see what you may be giving up at your price point....or not. The dealers may also have some used or demo gear that would allow you to get a better speaker for your budget. I have built my system on demo or used gear and often you can save 30-50%. Enjoy your listening.
@Whart

I have enquired with some of my local dealers and most have said that they used to allow customers to try the speakers out at home, but that they no longer do that. I have not enquired as to what made them change their minds, but at least they seemed to really want me to bring my amp along and were willing to move all the pieces I wanted to audition to one room so that I can compare them all relative to each other without much variation in the surroundings. I think this might be as good as I can get in the San Francisco area.

The book is ordered and is on it's way. I look forward to reading that!

As for horns, you are not the only person suggesting that. I had a friend also suggest that I try some of the older Klipsch horn-loaded speakers. I have no idea how to try out the JBLs - but I will try and see if there are vendors around here that I can try them out at.

Thank you once again for your advise!
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