Cube Audio Nenuphar Single Driver Speaker (10 inch) TQWT Enclosure

Thanks for your feedback, David.

Once things have settled in, I'm going to audition the Sablon speaker cables, the Synergistic Research Foundations (a relatively new cable getting some good buzz) and one other, depending on what I can get either through Cable Company or with a decent return policy.  I'll research Scott Sheaffer's cables but the Allnics I believe are out of my price range.

And thanks Charles for your encouragement.

Just FYI, these are the boxes I wanted to check during my new speaker search (started a couple of years ago) that lead me to the Nenuphars:

1.  high efficiency to work with lower powered SET "type" tube or ss amps

2. relatively small size and not too finicky about room placement

3. will sing at low volume levels

4. suitable for standard near field listening

5. accurate base down to 28HZ +/- 3db

6. holographic sound staging

7. tonally rich but accurate tone without unnatural warmth or roundness

8. priced under $12K

The Nenuphars miss slightly on items 5 and 8, but I was surprised how few speakers came that close, i. e. none.  The NSMT Model 100 (reviewed by Terry London for 6Moons) were the closest runner up, but the manufacturer recommended at least 50 watts per channel (despite being 91db efficient) and they had a separately amped bass driver which I've always been wary of seamlessly integrating.  I'm sure I missed some other possibilities out there but also sure the Nenuphars will fit the bill!

Steve, let me know about Sablon I might be able to arrange a trial.

Just as a data point for folks.  I reached out to Jon at Refined Audio and he noted that he had a *slight* preference for the presentation of the 8" neo driver over the 10" one.  And also that it sounds great in a 1 cubic foot sealed box.

My apologies for posting such a first blush reaction after just two days of listening to the Nenuphars, but the experience has been so extraordinary that there is an irresistible need to share--although I know there are some here who've already inhaled.  

My first response was an unexpected sense of relief, not just a letting go of my concern over making the right choice, but a relief of years of searching for something I hoped was out there but hadn't yet found.  Well, I heard it once when I spent a few hours auditioning a pair of Sonus Faber Aidas (the original version) in 2014.  But trying to find something that did all that in my price range and able to work in my room with my preference for low watt amps seemed to be futile.  Lots of good experiences a long the way to be sure, but not this sense of having arrived, of hearing the music so powerfully that it overwhelmed any considerations of doubt, of wanting more of anything, of something missing.  No, I'm not claiming the Nenuphars sound like the Aidas (or even that that's an appropriate comparison).  What I'm saying is listening to the Nenuphars brought on the same feeling I had when I listened to the  Aidas: a holy-cow-kind-of-transportation, a feeling of encountering the real thing, an immersion into where the recording is taking you, like the struggle is over and there's nothing left but to face the music.

It seems contrary to single out something when I'm really trying to convey a sense of "completeness", something Shindo gear owners (c'est moi) have been known to brag about, but the human voice through the Nenuphars  startled me with nuance, color, and pitch I never knew was there.  I first twigged to this listening to the channel identification track on the Stereophile set-up CD.  This is always one of the first listens with new gear--mainly to get the balance spot on.  Through the Nenuphars I heard layers of nuance in the gentleman's voice who says, "The fender bass guitar you are about to hear should appear to come from the left loudspeaker only," that made him sound like someone I had never met standing in my room.  My thought was, "if this loudspeaker can bring that level of truth out of a simple speaking voice, what will it do with song, with strings, with..."

Until the last hour of listening, I've been driving the Nenuphars with my LTA Ultralinear.  I just put in a First Watt SIT-3.  So far I'm still lost in the music and can't tell you which one I'm going to keep.

Ok, I know, calm down.  I'll give the speakers a chance to come into their own and then I'll tell you how I really feel.