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SET amplifier recommendation

 I have been listening push-pull tube amp for a long time. Finally I'd like to try SET. Seems a lot of people moving from push-pull to SET. My budget is <$3000. Looking at Coincident Dynamo MK III 300B. As there is no dealer for Coincident, i can not try it/hear it. Anyone has this? I'd like to hear your comments. i also looked at Decware, Bottlehead, etc. It seems Dynamo is better. Line Magnetic has some interesting ones. But i am not sure the quality can match Canadian made one. 
    My main speaker is B&W 805. Listening space is less than 400 sq ft. My current push-pull setup is CJ premier 15+CJ premier 17ls2+ Audio Research VT100 MKI. Thank you.
cygnus_859
shkong78's avatar
shkong78
1,485 posts
 
I agree with other people’s opinion that B&W805 is not a good match with SET amp.

About 20 years ago I had driven B&W Nautilus 801(15 inch woofer) with Jadis 500 (350 tube watts) with explosive dynamics and deep bass.


I recommend OP to sell B&W 805 and get the SET friendly speaker with high efficiency above 94 db.

After driving it with ARC PP for a while, OP can try to get SET amp suitable for the speaker as a next step.

I am happy to drive Lansche 4.1 (99db/w spec) with either Line Magnetic 508 and Silbatone 300B SET in open space of 25ft wide, 20 feet deep, 15ft high loft.

The nice thing of SET sound is vocal music.

Both Elvis and Eva Cassidy sounds natural with spooky presence.
moofoo
295 posts
 
Take a look at the Audio Mirror 45w SET mono blocks. Over your budget, but maybe used price would meet your spend. There are also a couple of reviews links on the Audio Mirror website. 
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
Don't fall for the SE tube hype! PP tube amps can be just as good! And a lot more practical! I have both - and high-sensitivity speakers to use with the SE amps (Klipsch Heresy's). The SE amps are: Sanei 560A (2A3's), Will Vincent 45 and a custom-buit SE amp using one 6BG6 tetrode per channel (6 watts). I have many speakers at hand - but only the Heresy's are suitable!
jmolsberg's avatar
jmolsberg
467 posts
 
i second the linear tube audio suggestion. they have SET magic with  oomph (:
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
I do have a possible candidate - if you are willing to buy used! Get a Golden Sound SE-40 PSE amp. I have one also - forgot to mention it in my above post! This uses three 6L6G's in parallel per channel. About 18 wpc! Capable of driving many more speakers than the sub-10 watt SE amps! And the 6L6G's are cheap and plentiful because they are a popular guitar amp power tube. Though in guitar amps they are used in PP pairs. The SE-40 is single-ended parallel. And is no longer in production. They are still available on the used market for around $700. You could buy two for $1400 and parallel the outputs - giving you a respectable 36 wpc - for a reasonable price! I of course bought my SE-40 used. So there you have it - a SE amp that could drive your B&W's - especially if you buy two of them!
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