Easy to drive, outstandingly natural sound from 40-50 Hz up.....AN-E, O/96, others?


If my goal were to find natural-sounding, dynamic, and efficient speakers that can be driven with a somewhat lower-powered a (i.e., 50-watt SS) amplifier, and that work well with a variety of music, would I be looking at AN-Es, O/96s, or which others?
I am not particularly interested in using a 10-20 watt SET, but being able to use something lower-powered than the 300-watt amplifiers required for my 85dB speakers would open up a lot of other amplifier options and simplify things for me.  I have two fairly high-quality powered subs so the goal would be to fill my (moderately large) room from 40-50 Hz and up and let the subs handle the lower registers.
Any thoughts on the two speakers listed, or recommendations for others?
mitch2
too strong?  Nah, just too busy here.
I wish I would have tried this stuff years ago.  It is tough to switch directions now that I have my speaker system pretty well dialed in for great sound, but they are inefficient and need lots of power to sound their best.  
There is a 50 watt amp I would like to try but it wouldn't stand a chance with my speakers.  The amps I have are 90+ percent of the way to nirvana but just falling short in one area.  Since I already own the speakers, trying different amps until I find something better may still be the easiest direction for me.  Problem is, I have tried several pretty good amps and the amps I own now are better than all of the others I have tried, and I don't want to spend a fortune trying high powered amps.  One recent change I made is to try going DAC-direct, first with the Metrum Jade I recently purchased for a second system and then just this week with Metrum's flagship Adagio I purchased after hearing the Jade.  The Adagio has been warming up for a couple of days and I will get to listen to my system without my preamp this weekend.

I was hoping to see some recommendations in this thread for relatively high sensitivity speakers (like 95dB +) that can be driven hard with 50 wpc and that display tonal density, strong dynamics, and a natural sound without added edginess, shrillness, honking, or other issues sometimes reported with horns and other really high efficiency speakers.  I think there are a few of those types of speakers mentioned here that would be worth hearing, but I am not convinced Klipsch speakers meet all of those goals....although there is an interesting pair of Belle Klipsch speakers that were recently listed for sale.  I need to go to show where I can hear some different high efficiency speakers.
This is what I want, and have ( thanks to the genius of PWK ) : Very high efficiency; Very low distortion; Very broad dynamic range ; Controlled directivity; Extremely fast and nimble; Flat frequency response; Excellent and honest tonal balance; Very coherent, top to bottom, Natural sound of all instruments and voices; Lack of edginess, shrillness or honk ( when I, and some others, get done with them ); Very detailed, what goes in, comes out; Excellent presentation of image and space of the recording; Does not care of the genre of music playing, including soundtracks; Works with ANY amplifier; easy room set up; Not expensive; Allows the immersion of being in the audience of the actual recording; Always modifications, tweaks, updates, parts available, to take them to whatever level you want. Resulting in : Always wanting, and enjoying, listening to music, at any chosen volume level. BTW, you can easily use them for Karaoke night ( plug in a mic or guitar mixer ). I am sure I left some things out. Horns are the real deal, and yes, go listen to some, in a proper set up. No need to be a Klipsch, as there are others. Anyway.....enjoy your journey. MrD.
I demoed the Cube Audio Nenuphar again yesterday and it’s a fantastic speaker. I’ve posted a few thoughts about it over on its own thread. If you’re looking for a Harbeth, Spendor, AN sound, this speakers might not be for you.
I also demoed the Odeon No. 28/3. It’s only 93dB efficient so it’s pretty easy to drive but probably not in the ’high efficiency’ category. Ive heard a number of every expensive horns and these are the only ones that have ever really impressed me. I listened at around 90dB for over an hour with absolutely no fatigue and I never noticed any of the typical horn drawbacks.
As one would expect, the dynamics were there in spades. What floored me, however, was the fact that this modest system was the most emotionally communicative system I’ve ever heard. The speakers are so musical. They convey all the emotion and intention of the musicians. They’re really soulful yet spacious and room energizing. I find those two qualities don’t always go together. They also have really nice shove, grunt, and testicular fortitude. I mostly listen to rock and lots of 70s rock and these do that wonderfully. But, they also convey so much emotion in singer-songwriter music and they keep everything sorted in complex post-rock stuff with orchestra.
The dealer and I loved both the Nenuphar and the Odeon and I suspect upon hearing both in that system many if not most listeners would choose the former -- they are really special.