Hello all, I'm new. And confused. I appreciate any help you might give me:
I just bought an Anique Sound Labs AQ1003DT stereo amp, which is 2xEL34 Class A, 30 watts per channel. I was watching 'Master and Commander' last night and the voices were muffled and hard to understand. The sound staging was great and the stereo effect was good, even through cheap speakers, so I am hoping that a better pair of speakers will sound great.
That's the lead in to my question--what kind of speaker in what price range should I be looking for? What kind of speaker would match up well with this kind of amp?
Right now I have heard and like the JM Lab Chorus 706 S, the B&W 603 floorstanding, and have not heard but like the Axiom offerings. I heard a pair of Klipsch floorstanders through an H/K 525 that I thought were dull sounding.
Am I in the right ballpark, or should I look at something else?
I want the speaker primarily for music, but also to be used for watching movies occasionally.
I have a medium sized room (20'x15'), and I listen to jazz, blues, southern soul/rock/motown, alt rock, some disco, and classical.
After looking around on this site a bit, I am considering:
Orb Audio Mod 2 and Sub JM Labs Chorus 706 S Ohm Micro Walsh Axiom M60ti Axiom M3ti B&W 603 S3 Magnepan MMG
Any opinions from anyone on these speakers, their suitability to my tube amp in terms of efficiency, power needs (30 wpc tube), and clarity? For instance, do these speakers require more power than my amp has? What level of efficiency should I be looking for, and does it exist in a speaker in this price range? Does the Magnepan have sufficient bass? Is the JM Labs Chorus too boxy? Do the OHM Micro Walsh or Orb systems have ANY drawbacks (I can't find any negative reviews), etc.
Thanks for any input you can give me. My basic question is, what is a good set of stereo loudspeakers to match to a 30 wpc tube amp for around $500-$1000?
Right now I am leaning toward the Orb system on the low end or the OHM on the high end of my price spectrum.