KENNAe
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Thoughts on this setup?
bierfeldt
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You have so many options that it is difficult to know where to begin. To ensure that you are happy with your system you will want to think about a few things:

First, what kind of sound profile do you like. Warm, neutral or a little forward. Do you have good grounding in those concepts? You can find a favorable review for virtually any product on the market so understanding it in context is critical. I or anyone hear can recommend products to listen too but our opinions and experiences aren't yours and what I like can vary radically. For instance, if you want a really warm sound, tubes are probably the way to go. You can find tube amps with power outputs of 5-10w up to 180w that I can think of off hand. The amount of power required will be driven by the speaker you choose. Some speakers are dramatically more efficient than others.

Thus my advice is find a speaker you like and based on the speaker you choose, that is how you will pick your amp/preamp or integrated. if you know this my apologies, but the SPL rating represents a speakers efficiently and the higher the number the more efficent and therefore easier to power. In general, high efficiency (SPLs >95dB) speakers tend to be brighter/more forward and pair well with warm, lower powered amps. Alternatively, an inefficient speaker (SPL of 85dB) is going to require exponentially more power to achieve the same volume. Although they tend to be less bright than high efficiency speakers.

For instance, if you were to power those Paradigm Prestige 95Fs (94dB SPL) with 20w, they will deliver 100.3dB of volume at 3.3 meters. To get that same volume out of a speaker with an SPL of 85dB you would need 158w of power. This would obviously lead to radically different choices in which pre/power amp or integrated amp you would choose.

Get out and listen to as many speakers in your price range that you can. I would encourage you to try and check out the Revel Performa3s, B&W CMs, Dynaudio Excites, Acoustic Zen Adagios, Verity Finns, Bryson Middle Ts, Monitor Audio Golds and PSB imagine T2s and T3s. While you are there, check out what else they have to offer. Find speakers that you like and feel are musical. Also, make sure you take your own music and insist on listening to your music. Dealers will pick tracks that show the speakers in the best possible light and this may or may not be reflective of your taste. I just did a demo a few weeks ago listening to the B$W 805 D3s and every track the dealer put on sounded great and every track I wanted to hear sounded like crap. Alternatively, I listened to the Verity Finns at the same dealer and any track played sounded amazing whether I recommended or the dealer picked it. The more you listen the more you will learn what you like and it will greatly increase the likelihood you will pull together a system that you will be super happy with.

KENNAe
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I'm still quite new to this business, as I was (formerly) a headphone enthusiast, so I have a bit of knowledge in sound profiling. I like my music warm, but not too laid-back in the highs (piano, sax). I have a pair of Wharfedale Diamond speakers which are tube-driven, and it is not as revealing and doesn't have enough of a low end for my tastes. I take it to be because of my speaker choice, as I've heard solid amplifiers drive bookshelves much lower.

Since I have no experience in amp auditioning, how much, if at all does it affect my sound if I choose two different tube amplifiers with similar specifications? I've been looking at reviews and most of the are just describing how "clear" and "melodic" the music is sounding, which doesn't say much in terms of musical tonality.
I'll go out and try and audition as many of your recommendations as I can, and I'll keep in mind your piece of advice of trying my own tracks.

Thanks again!

bierfeldt
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I find Wharfedale speakers to be a bit warm. Paired with a tube amp, that would be doubling down on warmth and I feel like it would be quite laid back. Also, my experience in general is that tubes deliver bass that is less...tight. A speaker to add to listen to is the Wharfedale Jades come to think of it along with Focal and Sonus Faber.

The more you listen the better feel you will get. Also, take notes so that you know when you hear something you like and why you liked it. One note, the PSB imagine speakers are going to be super neutral and provide a nice level of detail but can be a little bass heavy. This can be tweaked with usage of some of the port bungs that come with the the speakers. They are a good baseline for comparison to other speakers and are relatively common and easy to find.

Full disclosure, I personally favor a slightly forward sound vs neutral. I like a little bit of sparkle when I listen to jazz and my system is priced very much in line with what you have budgeted. I am currently shopping for speakers in your price range and am not convinced I will upgrade. I have the Revel Performa3 M105s on OEM strands paired with a Sunfire Tru Super Junior Sub. I have an Ayre k-5xeMP Preamp, Rogue Hydra Power Amp and Marantz Reference NA-11s1 DAC. Almost exactly $14K.

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