What is the most powerful SET tube amplifier?

Dweller may be thinking of the CD-1610 that is rated for 55W per channel. That's the one JA from Stereophile ranted about as only being able t output 9W at 3% THD.

Yes 55 watts is correct for the Cary. Issue 15 of HI-FI+ (English magazine) shows another design using the same tube which is rated at 100 watts made by the "Metropolis" company. Sorry...

The Cary monoblocks noted 'informally' above are at http://www.caryaudio.com/cad1610se.html

Note that both the Cary and Bel Canto are driving their 845s into Class AB to get those power outputs, maybe even class B for the Cary. the 845 tube can only put out 27w in class A, at the bleeding edge (1250v), most are run at lower voltages. (1000v = about 22-23w in class A).

Fwiw,
-Ed

The most powerful SET amp I know of is the WAVAC HE-833, which is a 100 watt monoblock. That's almost twice the power of the Cary. At least one person is using this beast to drive his Sound Labs, which means the amp is quite capable of driving a very difficult load. The price is in the same ballpark as the Cary. Replacement 833 monster output tubes are quite reasonable - around $250 each last time I checked.

Here is the address of WAVAC's HE-833 page: http://www.wavac-audio.gr.jp/he833_e.html