Raven Blackhawk LE... am I going to be disappointed?

Sad reality, the speakers you have never will give you the dynamics and volume you want. No matter how many watts you buy. It works like this: sound and power are logarithmic.

What that means, your 88dB speakers require TEN TIMES the watts to play as loud as 98dB Tekton Moabs. What this means, my Moabs with my 50 WPC Melody will play like 500 watts into your 88dB speakers. Five hundred. You literally cannot buy enough watts to compete, and that is with just my dinky Melody at 50 watts.

And think of it, these same speakers can handle 400 watts. Yeah. Don’t even want to know how loud that is, 50 is way more than enough in my rather good sized room.

But even then, even if you do find the 500 watt amp, and take out the second mortgage to buy it, even then no way it sounds anywhere near as mesmerizingly captivatingly draw you in good as a quality tube amp like the Blackhawk. Forget about it. Not happening. Never heard one yet. Instead what you get is dreck like ML, Krell, sorry they just aren’t doing it. I could go on all day, when before the end of Side One in my room you would be on the phone to Eric. Take it to the bank. Sign it. Cash it. Spend the money.

Lots of theory here, but talk to the maker, Jim Salk. He's been exhibiting with tube maker McGary audio. Here, the speakers are 87 db driven by a 30 watt amp.
https://theaudiobeatnik.com/california-audio-show-drews-picks-for-the-5-best-rooms/

I asked Jim exactly these questions when I bought my Salks. No problem driving them with a 30 watt tube amp, he said. At first, I was going to buy his little 82 db Wow1 monitors. He said this about 82 db monitors:

"I would look for a minimum of about 100 watts for solid state and 30 watts for a tube amp (the more the better in both cases). The reason is that the way these amps clip is different. The solid state amp will be linear until it reaches its maximum output and then clip, becoming overly bright and edgy. As you increase the gain (volume) with a tube amp, it is linear to a point near its maximum output. As you increase it further, it acts somewhat like a compressor and simply limits the maximum output. So it is “soft” clipping as opposed to “hard” clipping. For that reason, you can get by with less wattage with tube amps. People who love tube amps love the liquid-smooth midrange they provide. But they don’t have quite as tight a grip on the bass. If you want tighter bass, then solid state becomes more attractive. The bottom line, then, becomes “what is more important to you...liquid smooth performance or tight bass performance.” Other than that, as long as the basic amp design is good, wattage becomes the most important (since amps are very accurate compared to speakers)."

What this says to me about your present 88 db Salks is that you should be fine IF Raven is well made, again depending on how loud you want to go. And it may be an open question how well they grab the bass. But you have a sub, right?

Talk to Jim.

@b_limo I would never pair such a speaker with 20 watts. Unless you listen to a steady diet of "girl with piano", I think you will be disappointed.

BTW, you must be buying used since the Blackhawk LE is no longer in production.

Oz

For a year or so I ran my LS3/5As with a Stereo 70, 35 w/channel. That was in a room about 14x20, firing into the long end. I added a sub, crossed over at 80Hz. I was surprised to learn after buying a db meter I listen at about 80-85 db max, I’d thought I liked it loud. It sounded, IMO, great.

about a year ago I replaced the ST 70 with a pair on VTL MB-125s. The VTLs sound very different, more speed, drive, more alive. More SQ like I would expect to hear from your Raven, just without the power. But consider what MC said regarding the use of the sub, as that’s a very good way to get you where you want to go. You take the very low end from your Salks, the upper lows to mids will only get better and sound like you have much more power, which in reality you do with the power to the sub.