I am not sure where these speaker's pricing falls, but I would include some comparable Triangle models in your auditions for sure. if they fall in the $2K+ range I would certainly include the Triangle Antal and Celius. You would be amazed at the clarity.

Tough choice. No real loser in the bunch. Got to try them in your own system and room. I went with SF's some time ago and have never been sorry, but your ears and mine may not agree.

If you are having to choose one without listening, that is a toughy. However, you shouldn't have any problems driving any of them with the amp you are going to be using.

I think at that level, you really have to try them out with the amp, which by all accounts is one fine amp. I've heard speakers from each of the brands you are considering, but not the models indicated so my 2 cents wouldn't even be worth 2 cents.

The Triangle Heliade is very nice for the money as is the B&W603 which got a very good "Phile" review. As you know, the right speakers will make everything else sound much better. The Triangles are very efficient and take well to tube amps...if you are so inclined. Enjoy.

Glad to hear you will not purchase (at least your speakers) without first auditioning. Despite the favourable Sphile review, Budget Component Of The Year, and Mr. Tavegias' repeated suggestion of the B&W 603, I did not find their sound to my liking, to put it mildly. Different strokes for different folks, it's what makes this hobby so much fun!

RG

Hybrid tube amps shouldn't require any maintenance. The maintenance comes from using tubes in the amp section and not in the preamp stage. Tube life in hybrid amps is considerably longer and really shouldn't be a deal breaker.

One school of thought in using tubes suggests that the closer to the source the better and when not required to provide the amplification you get the best of both...liquid mids without periodic biasing and replacement. It's not uncommon for tubes to last many years in hybrid designs.

I recently auditioned the Jolida RC 1501 hybrid and I think it is a screaming bargain. For the money, I can't think of a better combination of sonics, power and facilities in an integrated amplifier.

You are correct that tubes, like light bulbs, deteriorate and fail over time. However, the relatively small tubes used to power the preamp section of a hybrid uses very little energy, creates very little heat and if you can change a light bulb, you can swap a $15 tube every 4 or 5 years.

Since you need a good quality tuner for most of your listening, you might want to spend a little extra for one with remote control. Tuners are disproportionately inexpensive compared to other components and a small investment in a top notch antenna would pay big dividends. I use a Rotel 935AX tuner and it does a good job of smoothing out the grunge of most broadcasts and still has a nice combination of audiophile attributes...and it's dirt cheap. The 940 adds a remote and I see them go for about $150.00 used. I'm sure there are much better tuners, but you would have no problem getting your money back out of one of these should you decide to audition some others later on.

Tuners are so inexpensive that leaving them out of your amplification component is a no brainer. There is very little reason to go the receiver route and compromise the sound with too much circuitry when you can simply hook up a tuner to a line level input and maintain better sonics with your other source components.