Best Tube Amp for High Sensitivity Speakers: 45, PX25, or 300B?

One of my 'under-powered' friends has this Art Audio PX25, 6 wpc

https://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0801/artaudiopx25.htm

Noooooooooooooo, Nooooooooo, Nooooooooo

I currently own a Tektron 2A3/45, MastersounD 300B, Art Audio 845 and most recently just sold an Allnic m311 (PX25). I utilize beautiful Coherent Audio 18's that have a similar level of sensitivity @ 98+dB. My listening room is a bit larger, but overall, this question is one that I have experienced directly for many years. But, before I actually post, I want to share that I have been reading blogs for many years, but have never actually commented as I find the audio journey such a unique and personal experience. All I can profess to do is share my own unique and individual direct experiences. 

I love my Tektron 2A3/45. These low powered tubes built by Attilio in Italy are a wonderfully designed and built, very reasonably priced gem. The tubes (2A3 and 45) are to me the epidemy of SET sound. They deliver an open, airy, detailed experience that is intensely close to an intimate live performance. However, and for the record, there always seems to be a however, in some genres of music, they can just lack a complete and full body. For an intimate setting of both female or male vocalists, or even the delicate concert delivered by a cello, I find nothing even compares to these tubes. But, when I play a full orchestral rendition of a moving concerto, or a little rock and roll, they tend to fall slightly short in the arena of complete body and tonality throughout the frequency range. Please don’t mistake full-body with bass. When in a proper setup, this amp has plenty of fast, full lower frequencies which I have never felt lacked bass.

My MastersounD 300B however, is fast, dynamic and never has lacked for power, regardless of the demands placed on it from the style, genre or volume of music. It sounds more truly complete throughout the frequency ranges, but and here we go again, lacks that true SET quality. I know I might be committing audio Hare Kari, but to me, it does not have the detail or the delicacy of the 2A3/45 tubed amps.

The Art Audio (845) maintains more SET true nature than the 300B, albeit, less than the 2A3/45. It actually has a sound closer to my Tektron amp than the MastersounD does. It delivers amazing power with full body and a force that is not touched by either of its rivals. One of the many beauties of the Art Audio Carissa is that it does not overdrive the tubes and therefore does not get any hotter than my 300B tube gets. I know, once again, the comments seem hard to imagine, but when you speak with Art Audio you will understand their reasoning and why the amps do not get hot like most all other 845 amps. But, to me the 845 just lacks a little tonality throughout the dynamic range. Perhaps just a tad rolled off in the highs, especially compared to either the 300B or the 2A3/45 amps. It also loses just a touch of detail and delicacy found in the Tektron; however, it delivers amazing full body force and punch that is spine-tingling during a moving classical overture.

The Allnic m311 (PX25), so sorry, I actually have never heard the Audion PX25, but owned the Allnic for man years. Was a great amp. It delivered more punch, power and body than the 2A3/45, more SET like detail and delicacy than either the 300B or the 845. However, to me just lacked a little excitement. It always sounded good, very good, but rarely if ever stopped me in my tracks and caused that hold your breath pause that comes with music being played through a piece of art.  Still, the Allnic is perhaps one of the finest amps I have ever had the pleasure of owning and a true joy to listen to as a daily driver. However, getting PX25 tubes can be a challenge. KR Audio is the only current manufacturer of these unique tubes and they only produce tubes when backorders are substantial enough to warrant the process.

This week I will be taking delivery on an Art Audio Jota, a high-current set of monos that delivers 20+ watts through a unique 1605 power tube. I am hoping that they deliver the “unicorn” I am seeking; SET like sound with a bit more punch. Until then, I am a spoiled audio aficionado that switches between my 2A3/45 and 845 as the music and my mood demands. What a great hobby we all have!

@gregjacob Something you want to consider before moving ahead blindly with an SET purchase is the difference between sensitivity and efficiency. Sensitivity is a voltage measurement (2.83V @ 1 meter); efficiency is a power measurement (1 Watt @ 1 meter).

If the speaker is 8 Ohms these two are the same since 2.83V into an 8 Ohm load is 1 Watt. Your speakers are a lower impedance than that; hence they are not as efficient as you think they are. You did not mention which Daedalus. If a 6 Ohm model subtract 1.5dB from the sensitivity measurement to arrive at the efficiency. If 4 Ohms subtract 3 dB since 2.83 Volts into 4 Ohms is 2 Watts, not 1, a 3dB difference.

Now the sensitivity measurement came into vogue in the 1970s when solid state amps became really common. Most solid state amps can behave as a 'voltage source', which is to say they can double power as the speaker load is cut in half (although a cheap one may not be able to do this at full power if limited by its power supply). OTOH, tube amps don't do this at all- in particular SETs. For tube amps in general, the efficiency spec is more useful on this account. If a tube amp is able to act as a voltage source, it will employ feedback (SETs usually do not) and will cut power in half as impedance is doubled rather than doubling power as impedance is halved. This makes tube power really expensive.

A further complication is you are talking about an SET. SETs have about 20-25% of usable power. Above that power level, even though they are not clipping, the higher ordered harmonics start to show up in their distortion. The ear uses the higher ordered harmonics to sense sound pressure. The result is they start to sound 'dynamic' since the power used in music is mostly on transients and now you are getting loudness cues on the transients (that are artificially generated)! This is why so many people talk about the 'dynamic' nature of SETs. They are misusing the amplifier by having a speaker that lacks efficiency.

The bottom line here is that unless your room is very small using an SET on your speakers is a Bad Idea. Quite simply you'll need more power. One other thing- SETs have trouble making bandwidth due to output transformer limitations. Effectively this means that to get hifi bandwidth the amp probably should not make over 7-8 Watts. Add to that the problem of usable power and you can see that 2-3 Watt isn't going to make it in most rooms with speakers like yours!! A more powerful SET will lack bandwidth and the typical way of doing that is to compromise bass bandwidth in favor of the higher octaves (IOW its a design consideration the designer has to face).

This does not mean that you have to leave any musicality on the table when going with another kind of amplifier! There are push pull tube amps that have the same kind of 'magic' of SETs and now there are even class D amplifiers about which the same can be said.

FWIW I have speakers that are genuinely 98dB efficient and I find I need at least 40-50 Watts and my room is a bit on the small side. I don't use all that power of course, but it does mean that the amplifier is loafing and as a result distortion is very low- this results in greater transparency (distortion obscures detail just so you know- you do pay a price for higher distortion amps like SETs!). Of course we all want the relaxed liquid mids and highs that SETs are known for but seriously that's no problem for other kinds of amps as I said. And there are those occasions where the system really has to use some power- such as playing the Saint-Seans Organ Symphony at a proper level and doing it without strain.

So if you really don't want to go down a rabbit hole and flushing dollars down the loo at the same time, IMO/IME avoid SETs with your speakers, unless you are in a very small room.

@atmasphere What you said is very valid. Why limit our options just because of some preconceived notions? 

My first time listening to a tube amp was one of the large Line Magnetic. I have always thought tube amps were supposed to sound seductive, sweet, and warm. Imagine my surprise when I was greeted with an aggressive and powerful sound. I then realized whatever I thought about tube amps were not exactly right. 

I've heard the Jadis I70 last year and I absolutely loved it. It had power but also high level of refinement and liquid sounds. The sound was definitely high-end and same quality as the other high-end brands like Aavik and Nagra. It converted me and I realized I had to at least shortlist a few tube amps for my upgrade consideration. 

Aavik Class D integrated are revelatory as well. Those who gave them a listen had their prejudice about Class D completely shattered. 

Aavik Class D integrated are revelatory as well. Those who gave them a listen had their prejudice about Class D completely shattered. 

Yes, a lot of class D amplifiers in the last 20 years were pretty effective at giving class D a bad name. These days there are class D amps that give any tube amp more than a run for its money. I've been playing a set for the last 2 years and don't miss the tubes at all- I have the same organic, liquid mids and highs and plenty of impact in the bass and its actually easier to hear what's going on in the rear of the sound stage. No tradeoffs!