Speakers, subwoofer...

Rob,

The Oppo universal players have "bass management" - i.e., a built-in crossover, and an RCA line-level connection for a powered subwoofer. With Oppo's bass management, the low frequencies are off-loaded from the main amp and speakers, which differs from a "double bass" implementation of a subwoofer (which is common) wherein low frequencies are sent to both the main speakers and the sub. The low frequencies eat up a lot of power. With the Oppo's implementation, the main amp and speakers are less likely to overload (and sound congested or distorted) during fff passages of music. The last 4 generations of Oppo players have bass management (the newer models have adjustments for the crossover): UDP-205, BDP-105, BDP-95, and DV-980H. If you’re on a limited budget, the DV-980H plays SACD, CD, and DVD, and have been selling for $50 - $100 on eBay. The newer models play downloaded FLAC files, Blu-ray (audio and video), and the newest model plays UHD discs.

I've chosen the high-end Oppo products because they are "universal players", and have a high-quality DAC built-in. I have all of the Oppo units listed above installed in different stereo hi-fi systems. The Oppo units listed above all have variable output (i.e., volume control on remote) enabling them to be connected directly to a tube power amp (i.e., no pre-amp) – assuming good system synergy.

If you don’t currently have the ability to play SACDs or downloaded hi-res (24bit/96kHz) FLAC recordings, you might consider this in your quest for high quality reproduced sound. Your hi-fi system will never sound better than the quality of the recordings.

I’m a big fan of tube amps (I own more than 2 dozen, including several Fisher). And good quality Kilpsch speakers are capable of excellent sound when mated with the right amp. FWIW, I’m a fan of Klipsch RF-7 II. With RF-7 II and >20 wpc tube amp, you won’t really need a subwoofer, unless you listen to pipe organ music, or you want to feel the impact of a bass drum. With an Oppo player, you have the option of adding a sub later, just by changing the software settings in the Oppo. (I can provide the settings to implement 2.1 for each model.)

Hope this helps.
Thanks Robert,

I'm actually looking at a pair of Klipsch KG 4.5 speakers local on CL for a very reasonable price. They also look very efficient. Do you have any thoughts on them?
 
Thanks Robert,

I'm actually looking at a pair of Klipsch KG 4.5 speakers local on CL for a very reasonable price. They also look very efficient. Do you have any thoughts on them?

I'm afraid I can't help re KG 4.5 - I haven't heard them. FWIW, I've read good comments about the CF-3 and CF-4, particularly the first version of each.
 
Well I have heard nothing but good things regarding the Klipsch KG series so after hearing them tomorrow, for the price posted or slightly lower I will bring them home for my Fisher.
 
I imagine that if everything is in good working order, you'll be able to achieve very good quality sound. The Fisher's tone controls can be useful with Klipsch.
 
get on Craigslist and look for Klipsch KG4's, Fortes or 4.2's. All of those sounds great to my ears and they produce enough bass where you won't need a subwoofer.
 
I have a pair of KG-4's myself. I've never run my TA-600 with them, but I do run a Sherwood that is not drastically different in terms of power and overall design than your TA-800. They sound quite good, but not everyone digs the Klipsch sound. Rebuilding the crossovers helped mine, but honestly I think the problem was the half bad electrolytic cap on the crossover. The other two were film caps and still tested perfectly fine. The electrolytic had drifted and I had a bit of a peak in the midrange. It wasn't bad, but it sounds better now that its gone.

I was running my TA-600 with less efficient JBL's just last night, but I'm only a few feet from them. Nearfield it works out fine, but I don't think it would do a very good job of filling a room with sound at 87 db efficiency with 18 watts.
 
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