SET Asylum

Single Ended Triodes (SETs), the ultimate tube lovers dream.

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RE: Help me pick SET monoblocks

Posted by RGA on August 21, 2017 at 19:43:46:
Non SET amps hard clip. I had the AN J/Spe and OTO (10 watts) for 13 years in a room in the ~14x13ish living space and never got to the maximum volume levels capable. Paintings rattled on the walls and the water in the drink would visibly vibrate so I'm not sure exactly how loud you want it but this was ear damagingly loud. No distortion.

More power usually comes at the expense of worse sound quality but so long as you have a good preamp and source and the power amp isn't getting higher watt figures in a narrow band like 1khz then you're fine.

It also seems to depend on the tube type. I enjoyed listening to the Audio Note Quest single 300B DHT monoblock (8 watts) versus the Empress (2a3) monoblocks (8 watts) and hearing the latter sound so much bigger louder and having far far more impact. Most all the parts are similar in these and from the same manufacturer. The 2A3 has more wallop. Still the Quest had enough power but in a bigger room and with more impact music the Empress (or parallel 300B) is what I would go for.

The above photo is at the dealer I shop at in Hong Kong (not in corners). Properly designed 8 watt amps are enough. Audio Note (who knows more than forum peanut gallery) recommends 7 watts for their AN J speaker line.

Here the AN J wins best sound of show with the 4.2 watts per channel undistorted OTO. Plenty of power, huge dynamics, can hit 25hz flat in room response - no problem. But if you are worried just get a second hand Soro or the power amp equivalent P2SE I believe. Probably under budget too and 18 watts per channel.