kube%kokoro@ucsd.edu (Paul Kube) (01/02/91)
I have lately been thinking about the strategy that if you have a fixed, small number of thousands to spend, you should put almost all of it into speakers; they're the weak link. (Ignoring sources for the moment.) In the early 70's, when I was last serious about audio, I especially coveted the large Klipsch and Magneplanar speakers, of course for different reasons. The wonderful transparency of the Mags was great for chamber music, small acoustic ensembles, and vocals. The Klipsches had the great bottom for rock and big organ pieces, and were quite good on a lot of symphonic material. Well now its the early 90's and I (finally) have a small number of thousands to spend and a room that should be quite good for listening, and I'm thinking that the "inexpensive amp, expensive speakers" strategy really favors the Klipsches, because of their remarkable efficiency. 100+ dB/W/m can give you realistic SPL's with relatively low-power (read inexpensive) amplifiers. Getting back into it, I gather that these days there are some inexpensive British integrated amplifiers in the 50w/ch class that are pretty good, such as the Rotel RA820AX and the Musical Fidelity B1. (The larger Klipsch speakers, I gather, are as good, and as controversial, as ever.) A problem is that I haven't found an outlet locally that carries these amps and the Klipsches. So a question: Has anyone out there auditioned the combination of one or the other of these amps with, say, the Klipsch La Scala, or who can suggest another combination in about the same price range? Appreciatively, Paul Kube@ucsd.edu, ...!ucsd!kube