Hi,
Somewhat new to the Hi-Fi world, but recently put in an order for the Zen Triode Amplifier (model SE34I.6). After perusing these forums for a bit, it seems there is a general agreement that these pair well with Omega speakers.

I am eyeing a set of used Dahlquist DQ-20i speakers. The consensus on those speakers is that while they sound great, they need a lot of power (preferably 100 Wpc).

My questions is: can the SE34I.6 provide enough power to them?

Thanks

Not having any direct experience with the speakers my guess is probably not. Perhaps if you are sitting near field in a small room and aren't planning on "rocking out." I hope others with direct experience or a more informed opinion can weigh in.

I had several different Dahlquist speakers 20 years ago or so. They really liked high power amps like McIntosh and Bryston. I can’t say I’ve had any experience pairing them with Decware but what Decware does isn’t the same as what the Dahlquist does.

As suggested, so many variables... room size can be huge...listening tastes.... how loud the particular speakers have to be to really load the room for optimal sound and soundstage....how the room's reflections, etc, effect balances for better or worse ... how strong transients are, a faster more dynamic system will have stronger dynamic contrasts so a lower average volume to limit transient distortion... how equally weighted speaker efficiency measurements are.... how clean or dull the system/room is... etc

My space is pretty spread out in how it rambles with big openings from space to space off the main area. Maybe similar in total volume as Tommy's, but guessing a little smaller, and with a fair bit of irregularity in how that volume is organized. I have two 22-25 watt amps, a Torii IV and a 300B/845, and with my 92-92.5 dB HR-1s, I was good most of the time, and good for the most part for my loudest, late night listening sessions when I really wanted the room to load fully and drop me into immersion... But that put me on an edge that was very close. To be sure, I had to base the volume on known transients in a few tunes on the test list, having a peak or two that audibly distorted when just a touch too high on the knob.... Even if only a few times in a play list... I really got sick of that limitation.

To be clearer, these test list transients generally sound slightly distorted at lower volumes, so began with recordings....but.... now, with speakers rated at ±97 dB, I hear these slight recorded distortions, but not distortions from overdriving the system...I have not measured with these speakers, but with the less efficient but highly tuned up and resolving/balanced HR-1s, as I recall, loud listening was roughly 70-80 dB averages (A weighted) with transients in the low 80s to low 90s, usually not getting out of the 80s. Now I probably play a few dB louder in those late night sessions, and no more edge.

Not that this would be the case for others in other rooms... just another experience. But I do I tend to think that it is a little too easy for us audio seekers to love things enough to allow overlooking limitations, and guess some low power lovers find less loud than perhaps hoped can be fine overall... And if so, this is probably good, easier on the ears. It took me years to change here, but now that I did, I realize just how much I personally would rather have extra headroom for my setup than not enough for all listening preferences.

We have our zen UFO hooked up to a 1996 pair of Klipsch ChorusII speakers. 101 db 'rated' and they will seriously run your butt right out of the room. Gorgeous sounding...to US. We do not turn all the way up. NOT necessary at all!  Usually 3/4 is it for us when 'cranked'.  This is the big brother to the ForteII speaker. The other set we have had (still do/stored in box) are a pair of HeresyII's. Had those since the 80's. Just mentioning as another option of so many.....   Take care~ Mike

As an owner of the DQ-12s  it will defiantly power them but it's not going to play very loud.  Like the DQ-12s the DQ-20Is are bi-ampable and pairing the bottom speaker with a more powerful amp would probably be a much more satisfactory experience.  I used two Dynaco ST70s to power the 12s and they sounded pretty good but still needed a sub.

If you could find a suitable more powerful amp for the bottom and realized the limitations of running  fairly inefficient speakers with a low power amp the sound you could get would be very enjoyable.  DQ-20is are great sounding speaker.  An easier path would be a more efficient open baffle speaker that would give you a similar presentation with leas hassle.

You can look at the speaker page on this site for open baffle options, and a lot of high sensitivity speakers in general.

At his point it's really about how much you want to spend.  There is a reason the Dahlquist speakers are so revered.  On craigslist in Seattle used DQ-20is run about $500 to $650 and if you keep watching the Decware forums the Caintuck open baffles come up all the time in that price range.  If you are really interested you should reach out to Randy at Caintuck.
https://www.caintuckaudio.com/

The has forgotten more about speakers than I would ever know and on top of that he's a pretty nice guy.  

The other option for open baffle is the DIY route.  One of my favorite sites is the HIFI Cave guy.  He's also a big Decware fan and his home built speakers use the same drivers that Randy and Steve use to build their speakers.  Here's a link to how easy it is to build.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4u0mmZdEWQ

Good luck and try to remember that the journey is the fun part.

Cheers