Which SET amp to buy?


I am thinking about making the plunge into the SET amp world.I have not chosen speakers.I will pick my amp first and then search for efficient speakers.I have a budget of 2000.00 and do not know whether to go the 2a3 or 300b route.I have heard good things about AES,Wright-Sound and Bottlehead.The Wrights look very interesting.Especially the Mono 8s.I have heard there is an inherent hum in some SET amps.Is this true of all of them or only certain brands?Any input you looneys?
BB
bigbry
IMHO, do NOT buy your amp till you have settled on speakers. There is a "Laws of Physics" relationship between speaker efficiency, cabinet size and bass response, and also an issue of room size and your prefered listening levels. An efficient speaker has to be LARGE to have significant bass. A practical example. I have Tannoy rectangular GRF speakers. They are about 96 db/w/m efficent and have bass into the 30 cycle region. To attain this, the cabinets are 40 in by 24 in by 17 in. Now from the perspective of the vintage audiophile, these are considered moderate sized cabinets, but by modern standards, these are bigger than most subwoofers! I had Altec 604C's. They are around 100 db efficient and in a similar sized cabinet, they only made it into the 40's. The 604C's would work reasonably well on a 2A3 SE amp (3 watts or so) in a moderate sized room, the Tannoys are (IMHO) more confortable with a 300B SE (around 10 watts). And if you want to use 45 tubes SE, you may have little choice than using horns! To put it in perspective, a 10 watt 300B amp will run the average normal modern efficiency speaker (around 88db/w/m) barely to moderate levels and will sometimes clip in a normal size room. The other problem is that high efficiency speakers tend to have more "character" than lower efficiency speakers. This is not necessarily a problem, but means that the search for a speaker YOU like is more complicated. So if you can't manage big cabinets, you may be shot out of the water before you begin. And if your room is large the problem is even worse! On top of this your options for high efficiency speakers (95 db/w or greater) are very limited in the new speaker market. I suspect a large percentage of the audiophiles using flea-power are using large, vintage (read used) speakers from the 40's thru 60's when high efficiency was considered important because high power amps were comparitively rare. So your choice of speaker tends to determine just what amp would be optimal. This is not to scare you off, just to give you a perspective on the journey before you so that you don't end up with two hopelessly mismatched products. Kevin
Since this thread is starting to lean toward the importance of speaker selection, I'd be curious to know if anyone has tried the larger Soliloquy speakers like the model 5.3 or 6.3? Are these somewhat "colored" and in what way, or are they fairly neutral? I'm running a robust 70w/ch CJ amp but might like to try low-power SET myself someday.
Most of the guys who are focusing on the amp/speaker interface have the correct approach here, it really has to be considered as a single purchase, or at least figured into the equation. That being said don't let them scare you away with some of the numbers they throw around. You MAY find yourself limited by volume and dymamics but you won't be limited musically. Currently I'm running a 2a3 with a kestral hotrod at 89 dbw, room size 11x16. This is not a recommend combo but within it's limits it delivers superb music and is superior to every high powered tube push pull and solid state amp i've had. If you have a much larger room, and or need high volume symphonic/rock - look elsewhere. Otherwise You have to adjust your expectations accordingly and give it a try. I would personally recommend something like the Wright mono 8's or Don garbers x3, (both 300b's) at about $1800. Then you'll want something 92dbw or better for speakers with flat/highish impedences. Fortunately, more manufacturers are addressing high senstivity issues (coincident) and bringing new product to market. A radio shack spl meter is a good way to get a handle on how loud you listen to music and what you realistically can achieve with your SET.

good luck