[TONEPUB]

Thanks for all the response we got from the SET lovers out there!

If you feel so inclined, vote for your absolute favorite flavor
of SET sound...

[Carl V]

I've been very happy with AT-211.

I've lusted after a few of the 6C33 russian triode designs. 
Joule Electra. etc.

[JoshK]

833 anyone?

[SET Man]

833 anyone?

Hey!

   Isn't that the same tube used in Wavac? There are actually a big transmitter tube right?

Take care,
Buddy

[Scott F.]

The 50 by a large margin 

[jeffreybehr]

I've had 50-watt SETs using an 805, 22-Watt SETs using an 845, and 2.5-Watt SETs using a 13EM7.  Each sounded great driving speakers that needed that much power.  As my speakers progress in quality, they increase in sensitivity, too, so the current 97dB-sensitive DIY, LA, OB system sounds QUITE good driven by Music Reference 2.5WPC EM7 amps.

[SET Man]

Hey!

   Oh! right... my tubes

   I'm currently using KR Audio 842VHD tube A modern triode, pretty much like 300B but on steroide  aa

   My Welborne Lab "Apollo" were designed around these type of KR Audio tube to get 18 watts out it.  Talk about a very dynamic tube!

Take care,
Buddy

[GBB]

If you feel so inclined, vote for your absolute favorite flavor of SET sound...

If you can live with very low power then I'd vote for the 10 aka VT-25.

---Gary

[Srajan Ebaen]

Well, as you get more esoteric in triode land, power tends to drop and more and more speakers fall by the wayside to even let such tubes strut their stuff. 10s and 50s and 101Ds can do amazing things but there's precious few who could ever listen to them, especially if you expect full-range coverage. Go to tri-amping however and restrict each tube to a load and bandwidth and SPL requirement it's happy in and many of the variables could narrow down since a lot of the sound usually associated with a tube comes from its full-range behavior (or lack thereof). Put a 45 or 50 on the treble and a 211 on the midrange and something beastly and non-SETish below 80Hz and it'd be a hoal nutha ball game than just arbitrarily voting for favorite tube.

For example, a triode-strapped KT88 can sound exceptional the way Eduardo de Lima has done at Audiopax. 6V6s can sound very cool but likely will be used in push/pull. Then you've got tubes that shine in OTL apps due to their lower output impedance but those amps are finicky re: which loads they prefer so again the speaker becomes the limiting factor.

So how about a 45 or 50 on top, a p/p 2A3 in the middle and some big paralleled 5881s in da basz? Or some such wackiness? There could be no end to the fun one might have.

[smargo]

So how about a 45 or 50 on top, a p/p 2A3 in the middle and some big paralleled 5881s in da basz? Or some such wackiness? There could be no end to the fun one might have.

Srajen:

Although it sounds like fun - i can't imagine the absolute neurosis this would cause for me - i would be so obsessed that the tubes were working right, the cabling was synergistic, etc - this would drive me nuts - i would never be listening to music - the grass is always greener!!!!

regards
smargo

[michaelavorgna]

I would add that the specific implementation can also make a big difference. In other words, all ___ (fill in the blank with your tube of choice) amps do not sound the same. A Fi X does not sound like a Kondo Neiro and an AudioNote Kit One does not sound like a Sun Audio SV-300BE or a Shindo WE300B.

Some might suggest that all 2A3 amps (or all 45s or all 300Bs...) will share a similar sonic signature - more similar to another 2A3 than say a 300B. Even this distinction doesn't hold in my experience.

Is this nit-picking? Well from a certain perspective I'd have to say yes. But it's misleading to think that if we've heard one 2A3 amp, we've heard them all. I guess my main point is - let's not overlook the importance of the designer. I’d suggest their voice is stronger than the tubes they choose to use.

[jeffreybehr]

smargo: "Although it sounds like fun - i can't imagine the absolute neurosis this would cause for me - i would be so obsessed that the tubes were working right, the cabling was synergistic, etc - this would drive me nuts - i would never be listening to music..."

Hmm...I guess we're different.  I just triamped that DIY, LA, OB, 97dB-sensitive speaker system...

...using 4 channels of the previously mentioned pair of stereo Music Reference EM7 SETs by adding a dbx speaker-management system.  (It was biamped using an old Dahlquist DQLP-1 active-low-pass filter.  Two channels of an Outlaw 770 still drive the bass.)  That dbx filter allows me to get the crossover points, amp levels, filter slopes, etc. just SO right that I don't tweak it any more, after about a month--I just listen and I LOVE it.  One distinct advantage to digital filters/crossovers/eq.s, etc. is that they create NO phase errors while they're filtering, in contrast to any active or passive analog filter, so with the dbx, I didn't hesitate to create 4th-order filters for the tops of the bass and the MR and the bottom of the treble.  The MR and treble now blend seamlessly (to me) and sound quite good, something I did not have the skills to achieve using passive crossovers.

The dbx DriveRack PA was only $434 delivered... http://www.djdeals.com/dbxDRIVERACKPA.htm .

[vinyl anachronist]

I would add that the specific implementation can also make a big difference. In other words, all ___ (fill in the blank with your tube of choice) amps do not sound the same. A Fi X does not sound like a Kondo Neiro and an AudioNote Kit One does not sound like a Sun Audio SV-300BE or a Shindo WE300B.

Some might suggest that all 2A3 amps (or all 45s or all 300Bs...) will share a similar sonic signature - more similar to another 2A3 than say a 300B. Even this distinction doesn't hold in my experience.

Is this nit-picking? Well from a certain perspective I'd have to say yes. But it's misleading to think that if we've heard one 2A3 amp, we've heard them all. I guess my main point is - let's not overlook the importance of the designer. I’d suggest their voice is stronger than the tubes they choose to use.

I've been using both Audio Art 2A3s and Sophia Electric 2.5V 300Bs on a Bottlehead Paramour, and the difference in the sound quality between the two different output tubes is astonishing.  The 2A3s make the Paramour sound quieter and detailed, but the 300Bs make it sound huge and round and bigger than life.  So that throws another wrench into the whole "all 2A3 amps sound the same" world view.

For the record, though, I'm a 45 guy.

[vinyl anachronist]

So how do you vote on the poll?

[Bill Baker]

So how do you vote on the poll?

 Scroll all the way to the top of the page. You will see the poll. Simply choose one and click Submit Vote

[Bill Baker]

SET types: Which is your favorite?

 Boy that's a tough one. I really lime em' all as long as they are designed properly and are mated with the proper speakers. I will say I am conventional in my favorite with the 300B on the lower power side. For the higher power "Big Triodes", I am still a fan of the 805.

 I have 4 pairs of 300B prototypes that I have been working on for a while. I have gone around the table with different SET tubes but always 'preferred' the 300B.

 Just my subjective personal preference.

[vinyl anachronist]

So how do you vote on the poll?

 Scroll all the way to the top of the page. You will see the poll. Simply choose one and click Submit Vote

I see the poll.  I do not see "Submit Vote" anywhere on the screen.

[rollo]

     GE 211 4tc with the Consonance Cyber 211 amps. Audio note kit 1 with TJ meshplate 300B. Tough to make up my mind. If you pulled my leg its the 211.

   rollo

[60srok]

 6C33C



I like this implementation = V.Rossi SB3 analog mod>Almarro 318B Set>Omega compact hemptones!

Steve

[JimJ]

Svetlana SV811-10's