300B vs. KT88 SET?

Zoya and Ykk - just to reiterate, SET and push/pull are two different animals. They sound very different so Ykk (do you have a zipper fetish:-) do try to take a listen to a 300B SET before giving up your current amp. I'd disagree with any statement that implied one was necessarily "better" than the other. They are different......the "better" part is entirely up to the listener. 300B SET lends a sense of holographic presence that I've never heard before (good SET amps share this quality I think). KT88 sacrafices some of that 'presence' and airiness for a more authorative, dynamic slam (though not your typical SS kind of slam....a kinder, gentler slam if you will). There are plenty of folks who you could find that would speak highly of each, and perhaps put down the other. My advice would be to ignore such input and make your own judgement, preferably in your room with your system. In the case of 300B SET vs KT88 Push/Pull you can probably get a very good sense of the differences in any thoughtuflly set up system with each in place. Keep in mind too that in going to the lower powered SET amps you will really need to have very efficient speakers to make them sing. I wouldn't consider any speakers below 90db, and that would be my rock bottom for a smaller room. Better still 94db and up. KT88 push/pull arrangements come in all kinds of power depending on the design and how many KT88's are used in it. Therefore they are less demanding of speaker efficiency, though speaker matching is always important.

Ykk, certainly having both types of amps would be ideal if you listen to a diverse and wide range of music of which a good amount is suited to each of the two types of amplification. If I had to live with just one, for me it would be SET. But my musical tastes are more strongly in those areas that SET really shines. If I had to point to one that is most versatile, I'd likely point to the KT88 Push/Pull. Just one humble opinion though.

Marco

Guys, thank you all for your great inputs. As you can see from my system - I don't expect any problems from the speaker's end, they are 98dB. My biggest concern is musicality, transparancy and blackness of the sound (absence of added noises). Am I asking for too much?
:)

I agree with Jax2 and others, that the inherent qualities of either 300B tubes and Kt88s are evident, according to the type of music that is demanded of them. I tend to associate Kt-88 tubes with powerful and high wattage wise tube amps. Due to the higher wattage of most Kt-88 tubes gear makes me think that they were intended for high energy music such as rock, or heavy orchestral. Although there are several manufacturers that have multiple 300Bs in order to produce more useful wattage, for medium sensitivity speakers, the most refined 300B amps seem to be those producing 9 watts per channel max. Being an owner of both high powered tubed gear and low, SET 300B amplifier, I notice a large different in sound, as it was well explained by one of the posters above.

Yes, you need to have two different amps or maybe two different systems in order to enjoy the best musical "fit" that one can, but honestly, most people do not have the space.

I personally, kept my 300B amp and I am presently running a low battery powered SS amplifier, which sonics are at least 95% comparable to my 300B amp, especially in the midrange.

BTW, my goal is to have a system like JAX2 has. Beautiful and simple set up.

Hey Bemopti123 - thanks for the compliment. I actually moved that system to my workspace where I listen to it now. Mostly for WAF per my system description. A more modest, KT88 based sytem is currently in my home where that one was. The LaScalas now have much more space to breath! Hey, how do you like your Voight-Pipes? I've been thinking of trying a pair of those at some point. Terry Cain lives only a few hours from me and I keep threatening to go out and visit him in the stick and listen to his speakers. I have a feeling they may hook me! Good input on the differences too (thread subject). Zoya - 98db is just fine for SET in most rooms, though I've never heard your speakers so cannot comment beyond that general observation. 300B tubes are direct heated and are therefore prone to some low level noise when at idle. With my LaScala's (104 db) you can hear it, though I never found it annoying. Less so with speakers af less efficency. KT88's are not direct heated tubes, at least I'm pretty sure they're not (someone correct me here if I'm wrong), so that idle noise does not exist there (if it does it is not likely the KT88 tubes). As far as the 300B's once they are playing music, I find the background to be quite black. This is with my system in my room, to my ears. The idle noise has never been an issue when music is playing, even at low level....at least for me it has not.

Marco