Tube amp forethought

@kgveteran So you're young enough to want the volume pretty loud! If not, the 57s will easily sound loud enough in your room, particularly if not full of soft furnishings. There's a guy in NH that will refurb a pair of 57s for a few big ones. Pros: Exquisite sounding, fast, responds to system upgrades like you wouldn't believe, louder than you might guess, what bass there is clean and fast, magical midband, transparent and sweet. Cons: May not be loud enough, needs protection circuit if you like to crank it, 7" wide sweet spot only suitable for dedicated listening. 

@clio09, though I have yet to bring my old Quads up here from SoCal, I couldn't resist the near mint RM-10 Mk.2 that has been listed here on Audiogon for a coupla weeks. As the Quads don't need (and in fact can't withstand) more than what the amp produces from it's 4 ohm taps, I'll be hooking them up that way for lower distortion and longer tube life. I'm stoked!

@bdp24 that was a good score on the amp. It looked really clean. FWIW Roger uses the 8 ohm taps with his RM-10 but as he would tell you, try it both ways and use the tap you like best.

Thanks @clio09, I'll do that.

Kinda seems like this thread dropped off the face of the earth. Here's my .02 - I put together a retirement system incorporating tubes (in the preamp) and Quad ESL 2805 speakers. I previously used ESL 63 speakers, and they are wonderful. After some futzing around with SS power amps I put a Quad 909 in the system to power the 2805s because it won't be destroyed when I trigger the clamp circuit. I also use and enjoy an Innersound Electrostatic amp, which is capable of driving rediculously low impedences. It is a Beast with loads of instantaneous power but it doesn't like dumping all its power in a microsecond when the clamp boards are triggered.
For high volume listening (ya' know, when ya' just gotta get above, 95 db or so) I use JBL 4430 studio monitors. Which are just about perfect "all rounders". Yes I know there are other speakers out there that equal or better the JBLs.