SE 845 Triode versus KT88 Triode-Connected?

Any tube amp's sound depends on a plethora of factors like transformer quality, capacitor construction(polypropylene/polystyrene/Teflon/tin, aluminum or silver foil/ paper in oil/etc), resistors used, power supply topography and quality, point to point wiring or PC board, what driver and output tubes are chosen, and what the rest of the system/room sounds like for instance. Either tube CAN give you the sound you're seeking, but one cannot guarantee that either WILL.

Hi,

Thank you for the info. So it will really depends on the circuit design and especially the output trannies used.

So a well-designed tetrode-triode-connected amp can sound good as the real triode amp.

Thank you once again.

Solp_online, I happen to own a pair of 20 W 845 triode monoblocks and a pair of 16W paralell single-ended KT88 amps, both made by Hyperion Sound Design.
I have also owned several push-pull triode, ultralinear and tetrode KT88 amps, by Quad, McIntosh and ARC, from 15W per channel to 90 W/ch.

My speaker's impedance is 8 ohms and their efficiency is 90 db/Watt. I can listen at loud levels with the 845 amplifier, though occasionaly, on very demanding music, I hear slight distortion.
Anyway,the Hyperion 845 amp is by far my preferred amplifier, it has magic, presence and emotion in spades, besides a very warm (lifelike, not Hi-FI), powerful and liquid sound.

IME, no push-pull amplifier I owned had such magic midrange and treble "air" nor presented the human voice so life-like, though push-pull amps have more power and tighter bass.

If your room is very large and you listen at high levels, go for the PP amps.

If your room is mid-size and you do not play at extremely loud levels, I believe you will be in heaven with a well-executed 845 amplifier.

People say that once you have tried tubes, there is no going back to solid state. I would like to add that if you love music (not Hi-Fi), once you have tried triode single-ended amps, there's no going back to push-pull amps.
Good luck on your search