Would You Rather Own A Good SET Amp, Or A Great Push Pull Amp?

we have sold  many different tube amplifiers 

over the years most single ended amplifiers are too low in power and are too load dependent to be the amplifier of choice.

we had the unison s6 a parallel set which was good sounding but didn’t have the punch of the push pull designs.

over 20 years there  have been a few stand outs 

Master sound compact 845

Line Magnetic 845

Synthesis a100 

Zesto bia200 

Dave and Troy

Audio intellect NJ

@OP Unless its a 100 dB/w/M speaker, then  PP.

Every SE amp I've heard just collapses when trying to drive "normal" speakers at anything above "polite" volume levels.

Wonderful contribution from Ralph as normal; thank you.  Will just offer that PP ultralinear can be awesome.  With TV tubes (that were not available when vintage amps were built and that no current tube amp builders specify...wrongly IMO) that swing high voltage as drivers, big inducors to smooth current and eliminate the need for signal capacitance, KT77s which are specified for high voltage (can handle up to 800 volt plate voltage) and are optimized for 43% OT tap and custom specified high voltage OTs configured for 43% tap, 4xKT77 140 watt monoblocks result.  These 75 lb. beasts absolutely manhandle the Northcreek crossovered B&W Matrix 801 S2 12 inch woofers while also delivering delicacy, nuance and accuracy.

For the xenolith family, this is the right answer for our audio amplification. 

Ralph,

I also wanted to thank your for your always insightful and educational expertise. Your input on this topic is invaluable, and has me much closer to the direction to go in. Much appreciated, as always. 

I built SE amps for years--2A3, 300B, 845--because I could. ;-)  No feedback, no 'scope needed, just crasm in as many expensive parts as you could and eventually you could get pretty good sound.  But having developed the skills to build a really good PP amp, I'll never go back.  I'm with Ralph--a good 20-35 wpc PP amp can be a real joy.  I've settled into the Williamson design because if its tonal veracity.  For my money a moderately-powered Williamson gives you everything an SE amp offers plus a lot more in terms of bandwidth, speaker control and low distortion.