Speaker advice needed

[dpertschuk]

for years I have been very happily listening to music (all types) through a set of 4" Fostex Drivers "driven" by a SEX amp with a sub. As you all know this is a sweet, warm, sound that is rarely offensive if given a good signal.  I've now moved to a larger house, where the living room is approx 20 x 25 feet with cathedral ceilings. My gear really can't provide realistic music production in a room this size. I'm torn between trying to find efficient (> 90 db), single driver speakers that might work, or going over to the dark side and buying a pair of larger speakers, like ELAC DBR62, and a solid state amp.  I'm 72 and my high pitch hearing is not what it used to be, so spending thousands of dollars for top of the line equipment doesn't really make sense any more.  Your thoughts are appreciated.

[Paul Birkeland]

You could look into options like the larger Klipsch offerings (Cornwalls) or perhaps something like DeVore.

[Altecboy]

Check out Pi Speakers.  You can build them if you choose.

[Larpy]

I've become a fan of open baffle speakers.  Since there's no box or cabinet to build, construction is relatively easy even if (like me) you're not much of a woodworker.

If you're new to open baffles, Martin King has a good website where he explains the ins and outs of open baffle speakers, and he includes some DIY build projects: 
http://www.quarter-wave.com/OBs/OB_Theory.html

I'm currently listening to 15" full range drivers in open baffles whose efficiency is in the upper 90 dBs range.  More than enough volume (though I have a small room and the speakers are driven by a 8 watt Kaiju).

[Paul Joppa]

The Fostex FE-103 (which I am guessing is what you have) is rated 89dB sensitivity. Guessing your old room to be around half the dimensions (10x12x8 ft), that would suggest you need approximately 8 times the acoustic power for similar loudness, about 9dB more. To stay with the SEX amp, a speaker with 98dB sensitivity would do the job. Single drivers of that sensitivity are few and far between, and most are compromised in performance to get there. So you would be looking at fairly large, heavy 2- or 3-way speakers; the Klipsch and Pi brands mentioned above have a few suitable models.

In any case, you will need a speaker that can move more air, probably a minimum 8" driver. There are a few 8" fullranges rated around 92dB; that would require an additional 6dB of power, i.e. around 8 watts minimum.

Well, that's a starting point anyhow.

[edited 1PM PDT to clarify]

[Jay]

The Great Plains Audio 604s are pretty efficient, but they are pricey.  Tons of plans for enclosures around the internet for them too.  They need a pretty big enclosure.

[hmbscott]

If you are temped by Class Dark amplification, I can recommend the Class D Hypex Nilai 500 Stereo Amplifier DIY Kit. I recently assembled one to use with  my Moreplay. In your case you could use your SEX as your preamp. The Nilai is a sweet sounding beast that can drive virtually anything, 260W x 2 @ 8Ω, 300W x 2 @ 4Ω (or 2Ω), 1 kHz, THD < 1%.