Blindjim- I found the same exact thing as Grannyring when I was using SETs (no surprise, one was the same exact amp, and neither of us has ultra-high eff speakers):
I think it should be obvious by now that if your speaker or your amp selection is priority one, then you have to get a "matching" amp or speaker. If you go moderate efficiency, or 4 ohm on the speaker, you are going to want a reasonably large, SS amp, of which there are many. OTOH, if you decide first on a 45 SET, you are going to be restricted to a fairly small group of very high eff speakers (>100 dB/w/m). Those are the two extremes. If a tube amp is your first criterion, and you don't want to be restricted to the v high eff speakers, IMO, you will want something in the 25-30 wpc range (or greater) paired with moderately high eff, 8-16 ohm speakers. To get that, you can go OTL or you can go push-pull. The very high output transmitter tube SETs are, I believe, out of your (very generous) budget.
To get back to your original question, I am persuaded by my limited experience and the technical explanations of others, that the differences between the "voice" of different output tubes is outweighed by the requirements of your amp/speaker combo. Particularly with SETs, the power requirements dictate the tube choice. As you go to push-pull or OTL designs, you have more flexibility in terms of both output tube and speaker efficiency. Both Berning/LTA and Atma-sphere offer a range of power output options in OTL designs and some variation in tube types. Push-pull designs offer the widest range in tube types and power output, giving you the widest range of tube-friendly speakers to choose from.
The music was wonderful at lower volumes, and they did drive myI have zero and I mean zero technical knowledge but everything that Atmasphere has posted has turned out to be true in my experience. If you do not want to be confined to ultra-high efficiency speakers I think this means you can rule out the 2A3 and 45 amps. If you want to go SET, you will probably want something 6C33C, 211 or 845 amps with a moderately high eff speaker (95--96 dB). I found that 300b and EL-34 SETs did not cut it in my 14 x 23 x 8.5' room, driving 95-96 dB speakers, listening mostly to the same type of music as you do. Great sound at low-moderate volume, but when you get grooving and want to go a little bit louder, the sound starts to get less enjoyable and fatiguing. OTOH, my 300b push pull that makes 27 wpc (VAC Ren 30/30) or my 6AS7G OTL that makes 30 wpc (Atma S-30) sound fantastic.
speakers to go very " loud " I was initially impressed, only to find the sound not to my overall liking longer term.
It was this whole issue of sounding "loud" when a system should not sound loud when turned up. Rather, the performance should simply swell and grow with greater impact etc....
My mistake was not the particular SET amp, but pairing the amp with a 4-8 ohm speakers with sensitivities ranging from 89-93db. My 8-20 watt SET amps, while playing these speakers loud, always fell a little short of greatness.
I think it should be obvious by now that if your speaker or your amp selection is priority one, then you have to get a "matching" amp or speaker. If you go moderate efficiency, or 4 ohm on the speaker, you are going to want a reasonably large, SS amp, of which there are many. OTOH, if you decide first on a 45 SET, you are going to be restricted to a fairly small group of very high eff speakers (>100 dB/w/m). Those are the two extremes. If a tube amp is your first criterion, and you don't want to be restricted to the v high eff speakers, IMO, you will want something in the 25-30 wpc range (or greater) paired with moderately high eff, 8-16 ohm speakers. To get that, you can go OTL or you can go push-pull. The very high output transmitter tube SETs are, I believe, out of your (very generous) budget.
To get back to your original question, I am persuaded by my limited experience and the technical explanations of others, that the differences between the "voice" of different output tubes is outweighed by the requirements of your amp/speaker combo. Particularly with SETs, the power requirements dictate the tube choice. As you go to push-pull or OTL designs, you have more flexibility in terms of both output tube and speaker efficiency. Both Berning/LTA and Atma-sphere offer a range of power output options in OTL designs and some variation in tube types. Push-pull designs offer the widest range in tube types and power output, giving you the widest range of tube-friendly speakers to choose from.