stereomour and "STBNL"

[azrockitman]

(Speakers To Be Named Later)
I'll be building my second kit soon, a new Stereomour, and I'll be likely building it with the 45 tubes from the start.  I'll be using in my office at home, approximately 14' x 18'.  the room is carpeted, but most other surfaces hard.  I will mostly be listening to jazz.  Some rock; but the AC/DC and Led Zep will likely only be played on the solid state equipement.   Source audio will be LP or SACD.   I'll be honest, I'm kind of lazily focusing in on two speakers.  The blumenstein orca's, simply due to the high quantity of warm recommendations on this site, and Klipsch RB-81 II's, primarily because they are an efficient speaker, seemingly well matched with the recommendations I've seen for sensitivity level of the stereomour and in my budget.   There is no showroom for me to audition either of these.   I briefly owned a set of Klipsch RB-61 II's that I mated with my S.E.X kit that I gave to my brother.   But that was a different, amp, smaller room, different speakers, (although very similar obviously).  Far too many variables to really make a valid decision based on that brief audition.
My budget is probably around $1000 or less, preferably less, maybe a tiny bit more, but I"d rather spend the grand and be happy, as opposed to spending less and not be happy.
I'm puzzled by the robust nearly blanket recommendations I hear for the Blumenstein's, due to their relative inefficiency (89db) compared to what I normally see listed as optimal for these low wattage tube amps. I know Bluenstein rates themselves conservatively, but how conservative?  Is it really 93db?  98?   Should I shut my pie hole about sensitivity and focus on something else? 
There's a pair of the klipsch RB 81's on Craigslist that I can pick up for under $600 and that's a savings of about $275.  The Orcas are $800 and that's fine too.  But again, I can't audition either. 
I know no one can guarantee what I will LIKE....but maybe some can weigh in and comment on what I am likely NOT to like.   I would even consider building something like the S.E.X.y speaker listed here but it also seems of pretty modest performance.  Any thoughts, recommendations, "Stay away from xcfgjer at all costs!!!" warnings are all welcome!  and if someone could convince me I would be an idiot to not buy the "WEMAKETHEWORLDSBESTSPEAKERS model X98B57's" for $1800, I'll all ears there too.    Thanks!

[Clark B.]

Hi there,

We did actually recently change our policy to do a 60 day money back, minus 15% restocking (on orders placed after today) and we've beefed up our showroom in Seattle with an all new Bottlehead "Big Rig."  (Paramounts and Beepree).  We also have a Stereomour around.  (and SR45s as well)

But then again, you might live a ways away still...

My feeling is that the 2A3's are plenty for the Orcas, and its a tried and true combo.  (Sometimes 300B's can be a little much - and drive the cone past its excursion capabilities, but they do have nice dynamics and bass and are just fine if you are cool with backing off the volume knob once you've hit their maximum).  The SR45s are some of my very favorite amps in terms of their natural tone and ease of listening and maybe the folks who come visit are lucky I don't squirrel these away at home for selfish consumption...however, they can run out of steam driving the Orcas to loud enough volumes at further away listening distances than mid-field.  They get loud enough for some people, not loud enough for others.

Our room is a bit bigger than yours (12*24), so that may give you some points back, but 45s/Orcas are still never going to peel the paint off the walls with volume, but they are musically involving on many levels with 45s once the system is broken in.

Out of diplomacy, I won't compare to Klipsch, but I hope my advice helps re: power requirements.

Others who use the 45s w/ Orcas might want to chime in here.

Cheers,

Clark

[saildoctor]

I have a pair of Paramounts using 45's and I get plenty of volume from the Orca speakers.  They sound more detailed than the pair of 97db 8" fostex driver speakers I had been using, and my roommate often tells me to turn it down.    Unless you have a large room I wouldn't be worried about their efficiency in you considerations.

[azrockitman]

Clark;  Thanks for the opinion and detail.  I do live in Phoenix so a bit of a drive.    But the 60 day return policy does help overcome the inability to audtion (although $120 + shipping is a bit of a chunk of change, but better than no option)  Your product has a lot of warm endorsements throughout the site so it is a compelling possibility.
One of these days I do want to get up to seattle to visit BH, so when I do that I'll be sure to visit your shop as well.

Kerry;  Thanks for the feedback.  Your experience adds some additional weight since the two paramounts are obviously even more powerful.   I am more interested in quality and warmth of sound as opposed to volume so that's good stuff.

And I have the "worst" feeling that I"m having wasting my time with building the stereomour;  knowing my historical tendencies, I'll probably be building two Paramounts one of these days soon...