I hate to say it, but it looks like I need some serious multi-variable help from the community.
I recently built out a new set of speakers (that I'm thrilled about) - and upgraded my phono situation (now a Rega P8 with a Hana ML with my current PC3 and awaiting some PCB's for an Emerald build.) I'm just going in deep and currently looking to charge the Pre/Amp setup in my system. Its great now, but I'm frankly researching to build "my" end-game pre/amp setup - the source components are sounding great - the speakers, killer, just need to fill in the gap in performance.
For starters, the speakers are relatively inefficient (more on that later) clocking in what I estimate to be about 84-86/db. @ 6ohms which makes them needy on paper but I'd be curious to better understand how these two are interrelated. I live in a small space, in what normal listening amounts to essentially "near-field) listening at relatively reasonable if not low SPLs.
I was first intrigued by building a Class A amp to power the speakers, I liked the idea of linearity and the Aleph J would represent a piece of audio history to participate in. After further consideration, the "stock" build doesn't offer too much in the way of wattage (not a con, per se) and the cost of the parts puts it into the realm of considering Schiit's Aegir with a DIY Pre, an existing pre or even a purchased one. Those first 10 watts are pure Class A, with the remainder in some proprietary "class a-like" performance scenario. To put it bluntly, the cost of an Aegir is about on par with the cost of the parts of an Aleph J. with all due respect to the Aleph amps, it's hard not to begin to consider that option,
Further down the rabbit hole, I recall my desire and passion for a tube amp - not usually reserved for lower efficiency systems - but still, a single-ended setup could offer that renowned "holographic" soundstage and maybe even a better performer at the now-obvious low volumes we can enjoy. So, plugged in a Maggie 9300 series restoration i did a few years ago (still the original tubes) which is meant to put out something like nearly 10W @ 8 ohms - ran this with a Sansui 555A from the pre-outputs - and it drove the speakers "just fine" from the 2 of 10 position on the volume pot. Was it perfect? Not at all, I think the low end suffered and the top seemed a touch sharp/grainy. But then again it was the Maggie with OG tubes. More to my point, is that those 10 watts gave me more than I wanted from an SPL perspective, but since I know that SPL isnt all there is to what is asked of an amp, then we continue.
For perspective, on these speakers, I am running a Sansui 555A, in full integrated mode - volume at 2 and it's pretty powerful, maybe could go to 3 if I wanted to rock it. Sansui AU 666, even more so, and the AU5900 - even more so. Yeah, I've got a bunch of Sansui's kicking around.
All of that being said - I've got a few options I'm considering (and I'd like to better understand how power really functions to better judge if I can run one of these tube systems as my main amp.)
1. Just pickup a Schiitt Freya+ with an Aegir and call it a game.
2. an Aleph J build and either a Schiit Freya+ or another DIY pre - maybe something from Elekit
3. Elekit 8600S or 8800 with Lundahl. Awfully tempting, if surprisingly ridden with hiccups for some builders - but based on the reading these are some hard-to-beat amps, for what seems like a reasonable price plus some elbow grease.
4. Prebuilt Tube systems - something like Decware's Zen TorIII Mark IV. This is of course high powered and definitely seems to fit the bill. I'd likely still like a pre-amp so
5. Pre-owned market - definitely would require some patience and shopping around but I get the sense that I could find something that punches well that someone would be passing down/along. Some such examples that came up in my brief query into the matter are things like - Cairn 4808, Musical Fidelity's M6S, Conrad Johnson LP70, and I'm sure there are plenty others I haven't considered.
Of course, the problem with any of this is the inability to test/trial them without committing to buying and/or reselling (yes Schiit, as well as Decware, have trial periods, but I'd rather hone in on something before spending a small wedge of the budget on shipping things to and fro.)
I guess amongst the things that I'm most curious to learn is how to better understand demand in the context of efficiency and amp/speaker synergy. It's often discussed that certain pairings work, or don't, but is there a way of simply and intelligently getting a better sense of the needs? Even some testing equipment that I could acquire to better understand the draw etc.
As you can see I'm a bit deep in the hole here, and surely some wisdom will prevail from the community.
Oh, and there's an obvious question of the budget as subtext - I'd say I was originally int he $2k neighborhood - for total spend at the moment - but after reading a bit I'd be willing to go as high as the Decware price point (3500+) and save a bit for a preamp further down. IN any case, there's a lead time on many of these choices.
Help!