I mean at 8 oclock, the SPL would be over whleming.SETs generate up to 10%THD at full power. If you have a lower powered SET on a speaker of insufficient efficiency, the result will be a lot of distortion, which the ear translates as 'loudness'.
But if you use a sound pressure level meter, you see the truth of the situation.
SETs have just as much if not more bass SLAM as any PP amp.This is demonstrably false. SETs have a lot of trouble making bass because of limitations in the output transformer
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I will admit I am spaeking in generaliztions
The 92db WBers were screaming at above say 11 oclock on some recordings. maybe ina larger room , might have better results.
But as i selectively only listen low/mid vol, never ever high,,SET's at say 10 oclock on the linestage pot is top SPL for my near field listening enviornment.
The SET made just as much solid bass as the KT88 and EL34.
Perhaps on a low eff/lower sens big box speaker,, yeah , PP are the preferable.
But lets not underestimate what a SET is capabale of
Especially when we have solid COLBALT out put trans in the mix,
These powerful trans, are not cheap, I should add.
Tech says something like $1G each.. which if true, makes these SETs one very special amp.
But again it was too much power than I need/want.
More /better control on linestage vol pot vs the PP amps, but just by a tad margin.
Its the only SET I;'ve heard, and my opinion is this based on this SET.
PP and SET's are very close in sound, Its not like SETs are sooo much better.
I don't believe this at all.
But givena choice, I'd rather have my music flowing through, a very cool looking 845 tube vs a basic kt88/el34 POWER tube.
You get more finesse, something superior froma SET tube.
Miniscule nuance, but certainly the better choice.
If we blind test low vol, it would be a lucky guess if a PP vs SET is on the speaker.
Overall SET's take the Cigar.
My tech who designs and retails both, enjoys both designs.
I'm a either/or kind of guy, as you can tell.
Only 1 can take the prize home.
Again, we are talking nuances, but also I like the fact SETs seems to have less curent, power push, and so I gain more control on linestage vol pot.
Again to point out, perahps the Voxativ/AER 's allow even more power w/o breakup in higher SPL's.
I don't need high SPL, so the DavidLouis works perfectly fine at say 80db SPL.
To me thats loud.
SETs may not have all the power of say a Jadis JA200 mono blocks,, but they are not wimpy on slam either,
SET fans are less interested in power , more(by a slim margin= nuances) about finesse, details, dynamics,
SETs vs PP, sound is not that far apart on most higher sens speakers.