SETs vs. Push/Pull


Say, people! I've been a tube guy for about 22 years and an SET guy for 7. Am seriously thinking of selling my Air Tight 300B and getting a P/P with more power. Anyone done this and if so, how are things going? Any suggestions for replacement amps that can compete musically with SETs?
tomryan
Tom- I've had both types of systems running at the same time, one at home, and one at work. My 300B SET's are my amp of choice, and have been for some time. Power's never been an issue for me with LaScala's. If you've been listening to SET for that long I sure don't need to tell you about it's strong points. The only thing that push/pull will offer that is different, at least in my experience, is the ability to handle more complex, layered, textured, and or dynamic music, with aplomb. As far as anything else you are likely to listen to, I think you would regret the decision if your priorities lie there. You will loose be loosing a large part of the airiness and holography that SET does so well and so distinctively. I've been more intrigued to hear some of the better OTL designs (Berning, Atma-Sphere) to see what they may have to offer, but that is an expensive endeavor and requires some careful component matching (as does SET). If you are intrigued by P/P why not test the water in a more moderate, less permanent way? A pair of Quicksilver MiniMites can be had for around $700 or less on the used market. Damn fine little amps, and you can sell'em for what you paid for them with no effort too if you don't like them. They will give you a very fine taste of what P/P can do.

Marco
how about trying paul speltz's zero-autoformer first? relatively speaking, the plain zeros are cheap (about $500) compared to swapping amps, and you may discover you don't have to part with your beloved air-tight or proacs.
just a thought
How about just biting the bullet and get a transistor amp for those times when mood calls for fast transients/power/rock & roll?
Since you love triodes, consider a triode-wired PP amp such as as the c-j MV55 or MV60 (about 25 and 30WPC, I believe, from a pair of EL34s per channel), or a Premier Eleven-XS, again about 30WPC and EL34s, but this time with Premier-quality design and parts. And of course there are lots more brands around.
Try a higher powered SET amplifier such as the Antique Sound Lab 805 at 2995 new; 50 watts.
http://show.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/shm.pl?ampstube&958923080&item&Brooklynaudio&4&5&6&http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fs_srch.plQQANYAAAApurlsrchAAEXYAAst26AAAAAAantique_sound

Or an 845 parallel monoblock ASL..more expensive..
http://show.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/shm.pl?ampstube&958923923&item&Brooklynaudio&4&5&6&http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fs_srch.plQQANYAAAApurlsrchAAEXYAAst26AAAAAAantique_sound

The Mastersound is probably the best bet as it can be had for about 3000 used and is a lovely piece and has plenty of power for what you want.

A quality tube amp will produce fast transients and rolls with the right speakers. Tube amps with average power supplies have issues with fast transients.