I missed that part. Not a vote of confidence there! 
When I saw the price I was almost tempted to import them until I noticed that further down!
Look for a pair of used B&W 805S
I own a pair for an ancillary system… love em… they have a character that I think will compliment older transistor gear.
They made a bajillion of them and they really sound good.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
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For opera and classical - chamber music in particular, I would recommend Pen Audio. Great sounding tiny speakers. That just comes with a couple of caveats: they need a lot of power and probably don’t have a distributor in the USA.
Is Sonus Faber still around? They used to have great little speakers but I haven’t auditioned them for a long time.
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I really love my Martin Logan 35XT’s, very detailed speakers.
A buddy of mine just got a pair of KEF LS50 metas and they are good as well.
Thanks for the tip. I am into opera and classical, and though I’m not into chamber music, I am into what I call “simple” music, that is music that focuses on the mid-range instruments such as violin or piano or guitar (I like flamenco, for example, and Spanish guitar compositions), or especially the singing voice, so your recommendation is noted. The Pioneer has plenty of power.
Speaking of singing, I can’t help but notice your name. Jussi Bjorling is my favorite singer and I have about 50 of his recordings, maybe more.
The founders of Pen Audio are classical musicians and in general their speakers do excel in acoustic music. Especially the ones smaller in physical size. Something about Finnish, a number of decent speakers coming from there. Must be the cold and dark winters, plenty of time to fine tune the sound 
Jussi Björling was Swedish, I’m originally from next door, but coincidently he’s one of my favourites as well.
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I must say you’ve made me fall for the little Penaudio Cenya speakers from Finland! The reviews are hard to resist. Especially when they are somewhat compared to ESL speakers. As you say, it must be those cold dark Finnish winters that favorably influence the developers! 
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My main speakers are Quad ESL-63s and I will never part with them. So if the Cenyas in any way resemble the ESL sound they will prove hard to resist. The downside is that the Cenyas at $4000 are more than a little beyond my budget but, who knows, I have a rich sister in-law 
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I wonder how much they cost in Finland. Sometimes a direct import can mean a significant difference in price. Many years ago I read a review in Opera News of the Quad ESL-63 speakers and how ideal they were for opera lovers. I rushed to the local dealer and fell in love, but they were priced beyond my means. However, I phoned the manufacturer (this was in the era before internet access revealed everything) requesting a list of London dealers and (long story) wound up importing them from a London dealer. I saved thousands.
Yes, Jussi Bjorling was Swedish, but he had a Finnish grandparent and that seems to be how he came to be called Jussi.
Here’s the distributor’s price list in Finland but it doesn’t look complete to me. It seems to me Cenya has been discontinued and they now have Cenya Signature and Cenya Supreme available. Wouldn’t call them cheap.
Bear in mind, nothing is cheap in Finland not the least given the 24% VAT. If they ship outside of the EU then there is no VAT but you may be liable for local import duties at arrival.
https://audiomania.fi/tuotemerkit/penaudio
The shipping costs have sky rocketed in the last year or so. Was just about to order from one of my regular record shops in Germany and they quoted EUR70 for just shipping a few records to Australia. WTF! Used to be less than half of that.
However, it may be worth checking with the manufacturer whether there’s anything they can do. There’s also a second hand pair available in WA through usaudiomart.com.
Just a shot in the dark here: besides the cold and dark winters do you think Pen Audio’s apparent use of birch/birch plywood contributes to their sound? Birch has been long recognized as a good tone wood and is used in instruments such as guitars and drums.
I had already discovered the used Cenyas andI’m checking on these, thanks so much. Have also written Penaudio and will be interested to hear their recommendation.
And, yes!, I have definitely noticed a very nasty price increase in shipping (and other essentials like water and natural gas and electricity!!). I ordered a recording via Discogs from Germany and it took four months to reach me, which was discouraging. (BTW, it was a Jussi LP of Swedish songs that I bought.) Postage was not so expensive as I recall, however I often shop for CDs on eBay and the cost of foreign postage is usually a major deterrent.
My nephew bought a pair of Audio Engine loud speakers to use in his NYC apartment. When we talked about what to put with my Audio Alchemy equipment he recommended them. He has a part time job doing high end audio installations and is also a musician and he was blown away by how good they sound. If I didn’t have the Pioneer I would almost certainly choose powered speakers. Powered speakers really would make a lot more sense for what I’d like to do. If only I didn’t have that Pioneer sitting around with nothing to do!
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Too right! It will not be cool having to get up to turn the Pioneer off. I do think powered speakers would make a lot of sense. Too bad I have the Pioneer sitting around with nothing to do.
I remember in the early days of Penaudio there was talk of the tone and the consistency of plywood contributing to the sound quality. Just can’t find anything right now.
Finland also has a long tradition of making things of plywood, the likes of Alvar Aalto used it widely in furniture and architecture. Therefore, choosing plywood is sort of a natural choice for Finns and there’s a plenty of knowhow in building nice things of it.
Best of luck with Pen Audio.
Many sellers on discogs and bandcamp are starting to restrict sales to the USA because of the cost of shipping. That totally sucks even if I don’t live there. Before the pandemic I spent easily 50% of my time on the road for work, some years even more. I’ve seen it coming for some time, little by little there have been all kinds of barriers being erected to make international business a bit more difficult and the pace is increasing. The globalisation the way we know it is coming to an end and I’m not convinced that’s a good development.
I have Sierra 2 in my shop setup. Fantastic for the $. Could be a bit too large for the bedroom though.
coincidentally, an SX-850 just came up on my local craigslist for $700. I will admit, it’s a gorgeous piece of gear.
That said, if you sell the pioneer, it’ll get you a good chunk of the way towards a really nice set of powered speakers, and you’ll have room on your dresser for all your jewels! 
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I had a SX-850 back in the 70s, still kick myself for selling it.
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Also this link could be of interest: https://audiomania.fi/used-ex-demos
And Audiomania deals and ships gear to foreign customers,so feel free to ask direct shipping anywhere on this planet