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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
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,861 posts
 
The B&W speakers are voiced for SS amplification and are never going to sound their best with tube amplification; possibly with the exception of a pair of Atma-Sphere OTL monoblocks.
We’ve got several customers that are very happy with this combination.

Our amps have a lot in common with SETs- quite literally, they are two SETs wired together differentially, with the output bridged. Triode, class A, with a character like SETs of distortion falling to unmeasurable as power is decreased. Unlike SETs they have about 1/10th the distortion, much higher power and wider bandwidth. The cost of replacement for a full set of power tubes for a pair of M-60s is similar to one good 300b.

roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
@cygnus_859: My mistake: the correct name is: Golden Tube SE40. Brain fog strikes! There are some good owner reviews on: audioreview.com
cygnus_859 OP
20 posts
 
Thank you for all comments. I also have some concern about sensitivity of 805. I do ask Israel regarding the sensitivity (both B&W 805 and Polk Audio LSi7). His answer is OK. if the speaker is an issue, i need a pair of high sensitivity ones. Is vintage Klipsch a good option? i heard they are highly colored speaker. But the sensitivity is very high. How different is the sound between 300b and 805 (LM 508AI, etc)?  
shkong78's avatar
shkong78
1,485 posts
 
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9g44j-zu-audio-soul-superfly-full-range

I would rather recommend Zu Audio speaker with small footprint.

Height: 38” [96.5cm]
Footprint: 12-9/64”square [30.8cm square]
Weight: 54 pounds [24kg]
Bandwidth: 30 – 25kHz
Efficiency: 101 dB-SPL 1W, 1m
Impedance: 16 ohm
Power Amp Range: 2 – 300 watt

You can drive above with 300B SET to enough volume.

But you may get nice sound with your current PP amp.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,861 posts
 
How different is the sound between 300b and 805 (LM 508AI, etc)?  
With SETs, the bigger the amp the less bandwidth. 300b is about as powerful as an SET can get and still be considered 'hifi' as far as bandwidth goes.
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