Need help : Single ended, Low power, SET amps..


Can someone help me to understand the + and - of Low Power? SET? Single Ended? And a few examples of some models would help.
tweekerman
Try looking up the triode guild on www.meta-gizmo.com. Eccentric, irreverent, thought provoking and informative if you can cope with an intellegent very anti pollitically correct approach that is not as sexist as it appears once you get past the surface.
General idea is you don't need heaps of power if you have around 105 dB per watt efficiency. 3 watts will go as loud as 200 watts into average efficiency speakers, i.e. 86 dB.
Go listen to someting like Klipshorn La Scala speakers suitably driven. Yes, megabucks including a good system - but so is the high power low efficiency system, probably MORE expensive.
Then have a look at JBL pro gear, for instance their slot tweeter (which is available in 15 ohm versions, ideal for low power tube amps)Try 105 dB maximum output to 22 KHz!. Not even slightly harsh, very quick and detailed. One of the best tweeters I've ever heard - as good as any electrostatic but with real dynamics!
They also do some wonderfull mid and mid/high horns, like the so-called "but cheek" or "Dolly Parton" horn. 500 Hz - 16 KHz in one driver!
Their so called "paper" drivers seem to have kevlar and carbon fibre reinforcing the paper. Very light, stiff and efficient.
How about a tube crossover (though I would actually use solid state with tube pre and power - but that is sacrilege!) and bi-amp? 2 - 5 watts of single ended driving a slot and but cheek passively crossed over with 1st order crossover and 10 - 20 watts of push pull triode on bass!

Personally, I like push pull over SE - but listen LOTS to as many different rigs as you can and then TRUST YOUR OWN EARS - cos you have to listen tp it!
Tweek, the plus is that they have low power. The minus is that they have low power. Low power sounds better because of less gain stages, tubes, and complexity.(All else being equal). Low power cannot drive most of the available speakers to a reasonable level, hence the minus. The art is to assemble a SYSTEM that will work to provide both sound quality and reasonable SPL.
Single-ended is generally preferred for great midrange. Since most SETs have output transformers, they suffer from transformer related problems like rolloff and bloat. The best transformer SETs do a very good job at minimizing this and sound absolutely phenomenal. OTL SETs of which there are very few, can be even better, since there is no output transformer. It is generally conceded that SET is superior in the midrange to push-pull. These are all generalizations and each type can be very good depending on the execution of the design. The sound of SETs like all tube amps is very dependant on the type of tubes used. 2A3 is different than 300B. NOS tubes sound different than Russian or Chinese. Etc. Speaker matching is especially critical. Load must match amp well or you will lose some of the little power you have, and impedance matching is also critical for some of the same reasons. If you get it right, the sound quality will be about as good as it gets. And you will get reasonable listening levels with higher efficency ratings of the speakers. A system like this provides enough detail to be ruthlessly revealing of any flaws in the system or recording. If you don't get it right, you WILL hear it. Many people cannot tolerate this level of detail because of this ruthless revealing nature. It can spoil your enjoyment of lesser recordings. But it will greatly enhance your enjoyment of the great ones. Nothing is perfect. This type of system has its strong and weak points. You will never get "rock show" volume levels. You will get awesome small scale sound. Whatever floats your boat.
Tmcroy, your tube xover (Marchand X126) + Single Ended + Bi-amp to push-pull sounds like a winner. But i don't choose my drivers by their db level. I look for what i believe to be superior drivers. Then i look for an appropriate amp. (i'm a Jadis fan). What are the Jadis?... Twl seems in speakers and amps you have a trade off in every choice you make....What i need is one example of Single Ended, Triode, Push Pull, SET. What i can also do is look at all the tube manufactures web sites and there should be descriptions of their amps, i should have something going then.