High Efficiency Speakers

You don't offer a price range, so I'll assume that you have a decent budget. Generally speaking, the most efficient speakers available (in the 96db+ range) are horn speakers. The Avantgarde Uno and Duo have gotten very good critical comments, and they will play VERY loud with low amplification. Of course, there is always the Klipschorn. While not considered an audiophile speaker, it provides pretty decent sound and it will provide prodigous decibel levels with little wattage. The Coincident Speaker Technology line of speakers is also being heralded as a great match with low watt tube amps. While they are rated in the 92 db efficiency range, the tubaholics seem to like them a lot.

If you have not already, check out Hammerdynamics.com and their $575.00 speaker kit (you supply the cabinet materials). Since you are considering the Bottlehead kits I will assume that you do not want to spend a lot of money. I have not listened to the Hammer model, but do find it interesting and would like to try a pair in the future. Klipsch has new(er) under $700.00 models that should be available on Ebay for much less. I checked a couple of models out a while back, but they did not do it for me. You could get by with a recent version of the Coincident Triumph Signature speakers (which sound great, IMO) but at your power level I suspect that you would either sooner or later desire a more efficient speaker. You are being very realistic with your target of 96db. I just tried Reynaud Twins with a 7 watt/channell tube amp and they match very well, even though they are rated 90bd/4ohms, so there seems to be more than the numbers at work in these types of set ups. I chickened out and did not go with 2A3's because I did not really want to have large speakers in the living room, plus I am not up to building the Hammer kits at this time (good high efficiency speakers can/do run into money). Good luck and check out Audio Asylums SET and High Efficiency Speaker forums for additional info. David.

If you don't want to spend a huge amount of money the Klipsch KLF Series (10,20,30) sounds very good at 98,100 or 102 (dB). You could purchase Lowther drivers in a pre-built cabinet, or make your own. Same for the Hammer Dynamics 12 Loudspeaker kit, see: http:www.melhuish.org/audio/hammerdynamics.htm and http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0600/super12.htm There is a huge section written here on Audiogon about best speakers to use with 2A3 speakers or single ended amps. Sorry I don't remember the exact name. You could research it or perhaps someone else can assist!