If mainly near field listening and you want all the S.E.T. sexiness ... you should be ok with a SET amp such as the Rachel or the Super Zen and a pair of really efficient speaker/monitors.
Another thing to consider in nearfield listening is that conventional hi-fi speakers may not be optimum due to having separate HF and LF units and concentric driver arrangements are often better than multi drive cabinets. Think
Tannoy Revolution DC4 and
KEF R100 type driver setups.
However the speaker brands listed above are NOT efficient enough for low wattage tube amps ... but here are a few that are similar in design, but WAY more efficient.
If space is an issue, you could look into the
Zu Audio Union Cubes. They have a very small cabinet at only 10.5" x 10.5", but the driver is huge (at least it is for this sized cabinet) at 10-1/3” and it's a full range, cross-over-less at 98dB @ 8 Ohms.
Recommended Union Cube Amps:
Average Room / Moderate Volume 1-4 watts
Large Room / Loud Volume 4-16 watts
If you wanted to go a little more refined with more bass, the
Zu Audio Soul Mk.II may be a good choice. It has a very similar driver to the Union (if not the same but possibly tweaked). I have been told by Sean at Zu Audio that the Soul's cabinet design make the driver sound even better, smoother and refined. And they are even more efficient at 99dB @ 8 Ohms.
Recommended Soul Mk.II Amps:
Average Room / Moderate Volume 2-6 watts
Large Room / Loud Volume 6-18 watts
Another manufacturer that seem to pair well with Decware is
Hoyt-Bedford which are also single driver full range cross-over-less designs and 97dB @ 8 ohms (although the driver is not as big as the one used by Zu Audio). They use the same driver in a wide range of cabinets and are somewhat
modular that can be paired up with their own subs or bases.
Another one that pops up for near-field listening are the
Parker Audio Model 95 Signatures. I read a review of them on
Steve Hoffman's Forums, and although not a concentric design ... it was a pretty glowing review from a near-field listener.
Quote:From the Review:
Parker Audio came about with one mans obsession to find the perfect speakers for what he considers the perfect amp, a Decware SE84C-Select which is a very simple single ended triode utilizing EL84 power tubes.
By the way, I don't own any of these speakers (although after speaking with Sean at Zu - I would like to own a pair of Soul Mk.II's, but just basing my opinions on what I have read in reviews and the specs that may fit your situation.