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High Sensitivity Speakers

Within the last year I purchased a Pass Labs XA 60.8 ... which I am pleased with.  It’s a great match with the rest of my system which includes Avant-garde Uno Gen 1 speakers (sorry about the hyphen but the spell check insists).  I like the speakers a lot but they are now 17 years on so I assume speaker technology has moved in quite a bit in thus time.  So as I considered new speaker alternatives I discovered that the Pass Labs 60.8 (69 w class A, 120w class A/B) are “underpowered” for a number of speaker brands.  I am not keen to trade my amp up but it’s an option.  So looking to upgrade speakers I an looking at Avant-garde Duo Gen 3.  Any input on other speaker brands that might be sensitive enough to match with the amps I currently have?  I live overseas so by brand choice is a bit limited to “well known” brands.  My system: SME 20/2 tt, Tom Evans The Groove phono preamp, Brooklyn + DAC, PS Audio 15 Power Plant, Joule Electra line preamp, 4 Rel 812 subs, room size 30’x21’x10’ ceiling), assorted decent power cables and interconnects.
chilli42
michael777
12 posts
 
Keep the amp for now & 
try open baffle, spatial or pure audio 
or listen to the recently reviewed
raven audio speakers 
Then back into the right electronics for your choice.  That said Im not sure why you think you need extra efficiency w All that Pass power
I haven’t heard the combo but vandersteen Treo CT or Quattro CT 
Should be very compatible, granted not all watts equal, sort of speak, but 75 watt AudIo Research amps are highly compatible and those are not efficient speakers 
Post removed 
buellrider97's avatar
buellrider97
1,000 posts
 
   What speaker does Pass recommend? I have Zu and Klipsch Hersey’s . But at your price point and room size , Devore and the Klipsch Cornwall’s or Belles would be nice . Have you considered fresh crossovers for your existing speakers ? I’m interested in how this plays out , so please keep us posted . Regards , Mike. 
mapman's avatar
mapman
23,651 posts
 
I would hesitate to part with those speakers myself.  If you do it should be because you’ve actually heard something different you like better.  Don’t assume newer speakers are automatically better. It all depends. 
mahlman
433 posts
 
I would not be in such a hurry to do away with them. Recap those old crossovers as I assume they have capacitors on there. Those degrade over time and I have had many 20+ year old speakers which have shown real improvement after recapping. Make sure all drivers are still well sealed to the cabinet. Might not hurt to do an ohm test and frequency sweep test on your drivers. If it is a sealed cabinet tap around the outside and see if your joints are working loose. Glue bonds do break and can cause ugly things to happen when volume is turned up.

I happen to prefer efficient speakers that are never less than 96db and the less the cone has to move to get your preferred sound level the less distortion you will have. Many older speakers are also made of plywood and not MDF and are far more durable. I have bought older speakers from people who did not bother to fix what they had and after getting them back right they were really nice.
  If you insist on getting something different I would suggest Klipsch. It is easy to get 101db+ very efficient speakers  that will last a long time and always have repair parts and good resale value. I don't know what your space is or your money to spend or how hung up on appearance you might be but you could go listen to a set of Jubilees and find out what less than 10g will really buy new. Old Chorus speakers are great picks but you will need to at least recap the crossovers but these will run under $1200 IF you can find some. I really really don't like MDF but I have heard the new Cornwall 4's and they are very nice.
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