Opinions from Infinity owners on Full Range / High Efficiency Speakers

I currently own Infinity Kappa 8’s that I am powering with a new Adcom GFA-565SE. My only source is streaming music via Sonos connected to an Emotiva DC-1 DAC / Preamp. I subscribe to Tidal, Spotify and Pandora. I am very happy with the full sound I get from this setup and this will remain my main listening system that I of course will upgrade as needed.

But I have been doing a lot of research and am seriously considering investing in a pair of high quality Full Range speakers with a First Watt type low wattage amplifier. This would be a secondary low volume system not a replacement of my Infinity system. The reason I am posting in the Infinity Forum on this non-Infinity subject is I want opinions from others who share a common frame of reference being Infinity owners and have had exposure to or own these type of low watt systems. And I highly respect your opinions having followed and participated this forum for a while.

So I am specifically asking for impressions from those of you who have had ACTUAL PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with these high efficiency speakers rated at a sensitivity of 95db – 100db, usually powered by a class A tube amp like Nelson Pass’s First Watt amps or other quality small amps rated less than 10 watts.

My thought is that the question you are asking is very subjective. It doesn't matter that you are an Infinity user because even among Infinities, what you hear varies widely. The question you are really asking is, what's the opinion of high efficiency speakers married to quality low wattage tube amps. My Infinities were amazingly pleasing speakers and I enjoyed them for quite some time. My current speakers have 96db sensitivity. The fact that they are higher efficiency is not why I like them. I am sure there other high efficiency speakers that I would not like.

I used to own Klipsch speakers before i converted to Infinity. I actually love the sound of klipsch speakers, they were just always a little too bright for me. Then again, i was powering my Klipsch speakers (kg4's) with an Onkyo ht receiver that was pretty bright itself. I look back and wish I still had them so i could hear how they sound with my current amp and preamp. Also, with a tube amp, it prob will help with some of the harshness. The reason for my post is because i have heard people running vintage klipsch speakers with very low wattage tube amps that still sound amazing, even at higher volumes. Klipsch speakers (at least their vintage ones) are well known for making extremely sensitve speakers that allow for easy driving with pretty much any amp. This makes a nice cutting edge for people who cant/wont spend money on huge, high current, expensive amps, but still sound pretty darn good.

Lux Man said:

My thought is that the question you are asking is very subjective.

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Well yes that is true and could be said about any audio question unless one is asking strictly about audio spec measurements from an objective measuring device. So yeah, I was asking for subjective impressions from Infinity owners if they had any exposure to this still relatively new audio realm. AidoKarma doesn't even have a forum dedicated to this subject as some of the other audio forum sites do. I was just curious if any other Infinity owners have gone this route and were happy with the results or regretted it.

I've heard a number of these set-ups at audio shows, with different speakers using different driver brands. I remember being particularly impressed with the [very expensive] Feastrex drivers in certain applications, and the Voxativ Ampeggio speakers. Full range speakers can have a wonderful coherence to them (obviously). They're great in a setting where the music doesn't have 20-20k range or cannon-shot dynamics.

Have you considered speakers which are 'wide-range' instead of 'full-range', and augmented on the top and bottom ends, like the Vaughn loudspeakers for example?