[JohnEss]

Hi..JohnEss here hailing from upstate NY. I'm in the process of revitalizing my interest in tube gear and decided to try a SE KT88 amp build. I knew that finding some decent speakers with needed sensitivity might not be that easy, but the search may have ended. But I'd like to find some confirmation first. Some specs first...amp has about 10 watts RMS, floor space is 227 sq/ft with 9 ft ceilings along with vaulted ceilings. I'm not looking for crazy SPL's either as I'm an apartment dweller, although when both tenants downstairs are gone who knows. I'd like to keep the budget below $1k and I'm thinking the Encore kit. And I realize the bass limitation...sacrifices need to be made. The rest of the frequency range has more priority quality wise, along with an 8 ohm impedance curve that doesn't feature crazy aerobatics. Low bass is secondary..unfortunately, but who knows what the future holds. So I'm curious to see if there are others who have experience with the Encores and lower power. I did see a post from about 6 months ago that dipped into this area, but wanted to see if there were any further experiences. I'm also curious if Danny can provide any insight into the effects of a vaulted ceiling...although I'm familiar with it helping to break up standing waves. The vaulting drops the room volume quite a bit...what would normally be 2247 cu/ft down to 1722 cu/ft. Thanks in advance.

[Danny Richie]

You are at the minimum power levels that we recommend for that model, but if high SPL's are not a priority they can certainly sound good with that amp.

You might also consider the X-SLS version that is the small floor standing version. It will allow a little more low end extension.

The vaulted ceilings are not a problem other than it adds air space that tends to eat up low end output levels.

[Tyson]

The X-MTM are towers are a good option because they have a higher level of sensitivity with their dual midranges which mates better with lower powered tube amps.  The X-MTM will also give you a bit more bass than the X-SLS.

[mlundy57]

My recommendation would be the X-MTM Encore also. Not only do they have lower bass extension than the X-SLS Encore, the bass has more fullness and authority. In room response of the X-MTM can easily go down to the lower 30Hz range. The X-MTMs also have a fuller more satisfying midrange response than the X-SLS. The X-MTMs take up the same amount of floor space as the X-SLS but are a bit taller. Either of the Floor standing models take up the same amount of floor space as X-LS Encores on stands.