What's the greatest bargain in SET these days?

Another option might be a TRON Atlantic, if you are considering buying new. 8W 300B with great build quality. Having heard it, it is every bit as good as Graham Tricker's other valve power amps.

A friend of mine in the UK has just bought one to go with his PMC twenty.24 speakers (90dB/W); he's delighted. It sounds wonderful, almost as good as the TRON top end Discovery 300B, but at a third of the price.

http://www.tron-electric.co.uk/products/view/atlantic

I don't doubt the quality of this Tron amplifier but 1/3 the cost of the Discovery amp still could be relatively high price. Isn't the Discovery 300b amp pretty expensive compared to the amplifiers discussed on this thread? I've heard the Tron 211 tube SET amplifier at RMAF and CES and it's was very good driving the Cessaro horn speakers. I haven't heard their 300b SETs. The beauty of the Coincident Dynamo (and Frankenstein) is the very high performance/cost ratio. This isn't an easy accomplishment.
Charles,

The Tron Atlantic lists for 6750 british pounds, this=10850.00 USD. I imagine this is a fine 300b SET, it uses C core transformers (Israel insists on these in the Frankenstein and CSL). I'd like to hear this amplifier one day.
Charles,

That one should be so good you don't even know its there to a bargain at that price.

No doubt it must be good and built well, but so would the $1200 Coincident amp it seems.

I've heard much more expensive Audio note SET amps on large very high efficiency horns. The sound was outstanding. But I find I can do as well in most rooms for a lot less. i can also understand how some might only be satisfied with teh biggest and best available at any price, but unfortunately my budget is not likely to enable that in my case.

It is not likely that the ultra expensive gear can ever be considered "the greatest bargain" in a field where diminishing returns so clearly applies. However, one could make a case that a great value is that piece of equipment that delivers the level of performance one seeks, regardless of relative price. What I mean is that pinching pennies to buy something that does not fully satisfy is never a bargain. It is by definition a waste of money.

Since 1990, I have owned a total of nine different amplifiers. The coincident franks are head and shoulders above them all, including amps that cost more. I wouldn't consider replacing them with anything, unless Coincident releases a Mk III model. For me, the value proposition is extremely high. I suppose if one demands top tier performance, and ones price range is 5-20K, then one could certainly consider the Franks a bargain.

In my estimation, the dynamo, at 1.3K is a great bargain with an insanely good value proposition. On sonics alone, it easily matched my 9K retail Cary 500.1 MB amps. It is fortunate that I bought the Franks before the dynamo, otherwise, I might have foolishly denied myself the opportunity to enjoy what top tier performance delivers. My frugal Scottish blood curdles every time I spend big bucks on audio gear.

I would love for someone who knows what they are doing to dissect the Franks and render a judgment on how much of the value proposition is based on physics and how much is based on business. With the Franks, are we seeing a brilliant design delivering better performance with lower cost, or are we seeing Coincident's business model permitting a focus on design as opposed to marketing? My guess is that the extraordinary value in the Coincident line depends on both physics and business. Whatever the answer is, it is clear Mr. Blume is doing something right.