@NickMimi for the knockout punch 
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I’ve literally run out of space, Maybe, i can tuck away one more pair of full sized towers in the main 2 channel room and possibly something skinny or standmount in the smaller room too. If i had the cash in hand i would be all over several of these, especially the Tannoy’s 
You have NO excuse not to add a pair of high sensitivity speakers to your set-up, i have listed everything available within reasonable driving distance and given you all sorts of price points to fit every budget constraint 
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Oh Shit! You added more 
I appreciate this list, those Tannoy peaked my interest for sure!
The Tune Marvel look interesting, like the horn is giving a reach around, or peaking out to say 
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What are arm twisting friends for…
This is like my own personal wishlist…and since you have a nice amplifier might as well steer you in the right direction. 
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Twist my bad arm, can’t get feel it as much
Need to cross reference these with CAF exhibitor list, see them up close and personal.
The last link, the Horning looks interesting too. Are those additional woofers on the backside and closed within the cabinet?
Yes sir.
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This is the NICEST and greatest thing anyone has ever said about me…so flattered and honored…
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Okay, I’m late to the party with my answers here but it’s not something you’re going to like hearing anyway. It’s a tough ask to say throw some high efficiency speakers at you for this specific amp because they’re going to vary a shiton in signature so it’s ultimately going to be a high efficiency speaker but you also have to know what sound you’re after.
For example the Zu are high efficiency and will work with low power but IMO they won’t come alive unless it’s perfect synergy with said low power amp because they need power or current or whatever and although they work with low power they can handle hundreds of watts so that tell you something about them. And in this camp you have to look at the Devores as I’ve heard wonderful pairings and Gibbons and Orangutans will work but they’re going to be very amp dependent to shine.
Then you’re got horns which are going to have very much their own sound and you’re obligated to look at Klipsch line, I really enjoyed the Forte IV when I listened to them as part of a system at @Snooze house. They were really wonderful and had a BIG speaker feel, very different from my previous Omega and Voxative high efficiency experience.
You’re also (and I’m SCHOCKED @NickMimi didn’t include on his shopping list) are obligated to look at open open baffle speakers like Spatial and Pure Audio Project.
Then getting back to the full rangers like Omega and Voxative and Cube Audio which have a sound more their own compared to others and IMO have may have the most synergy with a SET amp. I’ve never heard a Cube audio speaker looking forward to see if there will be any at the upcoming CAF show.
I really do want to try and get a pair of open baffles in my house to listen to next as I enjoyed their presentation a lot, just have to work within the confines of my small listening room. Which bring me to another point, I think when you go low power high efficiency, the room will matter even more so you’ll need to go in with eyes wide open about when you’re getting into as you won’t have the muscle needed to overcome certain shortcomings if you had to.
So, to summarize, there’s probably a lot out there that fits the high efficiency requirement but they will vary wildly on how they present and vary even more wildly on their price!
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Thanks dB Cooper, nick went with the machine gun Rambo style approach, and you provided me with the Marine sniper who will patiently wait as long as necessary for the right shot.
We had talked briefly about Spatial Audio, but not PAP, so thank you for bringing them up. I’m open to open-baffle design, yet apprehensive given the increased importance of a well treated room.
Will definitely be circling these rooms at CAF, the amp is a headphone amp first, and this gives me a good range of offerings to look into and test out when/if I make the evolution to a fully dedicated tube power amp.
Thank you very much!
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Maybe also something like this to keep on your radar as well.
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I was think a misplaced sub would be a plus in my 2 ch setup. Having not prioritized bass and going without a sub I’m not thinking of a TOTL sub.
Anyone have any toughts on this? Im thinking form over factor.
The REL Classic 98 Subwoofer Review. Vintage Modern. | Steve Huff Hi-Fi and … http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2023/09/07/the-rel-classic-98-subwoofer-review-vintage-modern/?amp=1
My only problem with REL subs is that they don’t that the REL logo plastered on enough places in their subs. 
What’s the rest of the chain like? Those new throwback design REL have been making the rounds, no one dislikes them and if aesthetics is important and that design suits, then go for it. They’re good, the high level input is the way to go (I resisted a lot on this and I was wrong). There are better subs out there but there are many more that are worse.
Placement and how you integrate them into the chain are of utmost importance the higher the fidelity foodchain you go.
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@MacDLaw , let’s discuss 2 channel here. Your wants, desires, room, sound character, music preferences, budget and availability restrictions will dictate which direction you can try to move towards in the future.
By allowing for time to build monetary savings, make equipment decisions based on possible synergy for your musical tastes and style of listening you will hopefully be able to save yourself the perils of “side-grade-itis” (multiple purchases made with the intent of upgrading but in reality side-grading instead.)
- Let’s start simple, what music do you prefer to listen to and at what volume levels?
- What do you value most in your musical sound signature? Ie. What metrics do you judge “good, better and best” by?
- Do you have a dedicated room for this set-up or will you be incorporating things best you can into an already otherwise dedicated room?
- Will this be a clean build using all fresh equipment or an upgrade to only one component using what’s on hand for the rest?
Just trying to be helpful, if you choose to do your own thing based on your own research I completely understand, i just figured this would be a good learning opportunity for all of us to walk through an actual 2 channel upgrade together🤗
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@MacDLaw I can attest to @NickMimi 
providing suggestions based on the above questions he presented. A few small changes which cost me nothing but time helped in a significant. Also having a friend walk you off the cliff into more sane thinking helps too. Listen to him, slow down, and be strategic. You have music playing and not starting from scratch
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this!
Learned a lot from this forum and I’m very very happy with the 2ch setup this forum has helped me put together.
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Is 2ch a cult or what
1.- when I use two channel I like to go louder than usual, fill the room and also make it feel like a club or party, also trying to protect my ears by not doing that for too long and eventually lowering the volume.
I listen to a wide variety of genres I love vocal genres, instrumentals, jazz, rock, metal, bossa nova, new age, edm, house, trance, pop, jpop and jrock, kpop, hip hop, and their post and fusion and alternative subgenres…
2.- for 2ch currently I really love the signature I already have with the budget rp600m; I just want enough bass (more than neutral), forward or present mids, neutral-bright or bright treble. I tend to like slight v shapes were the upper mids are bumped and the lower mids are dipped but thats optional. My friend’s focal chora 826 also have a signature like this.
3.- I do think my ONLY room has good acoustics it is symmetric (rectangular), its not small, my bookshelves have enough space around them. Still I dont know if medium size is accurate, that varies a lot by country/state. Im almost sure its on the smaller side of medium rooms.
4.- I love my source with the exogal plus ion powerdac I think it will stay as long as possible, id prefer not to change them. And I believe the speakers themselves would make a better upgrade.
If I get floorstanders I might need floor dampeners and thats ok.
If I get bookshelves maybe they would need new stands and thats ok, I like my current stands except for the fact theyre wobbly when touched lol.
I have 2 cheap rs8" klipsch subs at almost minimum low pass and volume, but they do help a lot. I would probably upgrade them (they might bottleneck, I dont know about subs), or just not use sub(s) if the bass is already enough with the speakers.
…
I appreciate every bit of information and recommendation I can get, since I started getting a lot more and better info from actual owners I dont remember making a purchase I regret (sure theyre not all perfect but knowledge is power).
I also remind you my 2ch upgrade is YEARS away from happening, this is a very early attempt to learn what are my options now; which probably will be almost identical in a few years. Also helps to get an early idea of estimate price ranges.
Luckily we seem to share quite similar sound preferences. And yep, no impulsive purchases this far into the game. Probably.
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Not a bad way to do it. My second attempt at a two channel chain is leagues ahead of my first attempt which was dominated by bargains and uninformed decisions and not the most regard for synnergy. BUT, it’s how yo learn.
Having a clear destination is the best way to get there. It’s okay if you change your mind along the way but at least you will already know what you’re looking for and will know when you find it.
The Shit list has a surprising amount of 2-Ch relevant material if you read through it. Any 2-Ch system though starts with the room, really think about your sitting position, your furniture and listening scenarios as 60% o your success will come from having a well prepared (treated) room.
The thing with treatment is that basic best practice will get you a long way. You don’t want to over do it and you don’t want to get into specifics, you’ll have a lot of time later for that. But having a good best practice basic room treatment will allow you to get the most out of your gear up front. Otherwise you’re throwing money at gear and simply not getting the best out of it. That can get real expensive, real quick. Having a good foundation room will perhaps save you a lot of money in the end as you’ll likely be satisfied with what you hear much sooner in the journey.
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Thanks for the info about the shit list, I hadnt read the 2ch section of it. Ill check it out.
Luckily for me I found a very good book PDF on room acoustics and learned basically everything from there, I lost the file tho.
My previous room was smaller and non symmetrical at all, I had to measure the whole room and calculate the centroid of the room to work the speakers-listening position triangle from there, it was a pain in the ass.
But I learned that moving the speakers a few centimeters is just as good as making expensive upgrades.
I have no positioning problems now that my room is symmetrical and bigger the sound quality skyrocketed. Also I dont “find” standing waves outside the listening position.
My entry level klipsch system sounds godlike, I have 0 rush to upgrade. I put all of my furniture where I thought would help more. I dont think I need any more room treatment but im not an expert either.
What I didnt expect was the massive cost of speakers in my country, any upgrade thats worth it seems to be 4k+ which I wasnt expecting for a pair of bookshelves lol.
Also I fear if I get floorstanders the acoustics will be completely different, I know nothing about floorstanders but the ones Ive seen and heard seem like they need a very good floor base/riser and also like they dont need subwoofers at all.
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I think for acoustics the two main things you need to be aware about are pressure (ie. like ocean waves) and reflections (ie. rays of sunshine). Everything else is a subset of those two things (ie. reverberation, diffusion, room modes, etc…).
You will always have room modes in a room regardless of your listening position (they are everywhere), unless you treat it with panels that can get low in level (depth) and in rate (horsepower), or have a room large enough to contain low frequency wavelengths (which isn’t most of us). You can’t “position” your way out of it either. The majority of it is finding a compromise where it is not so obvious to your ears.
Acoustics don’t change with different speakers but how it interacts with the room. Speakers output energy, and that energy is owned by the room in way of pressure and reflections. You tweak your strategy but you use the same tactics to manage the problems.
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