SET the best?

Purple

The beach on the other side of Cozumel

SET...tried it, didn't like it.

I have yet to read of anyone who has gone the other direction from SET, to High watt beast class A amps or others.

I DID go the other direction. More on that later. SET does some unique things that few others can do quite so well. Really good OTL actually has some of these qualities and ads some of its own. Nothing seems to get the living breathing palpable human presence like a great SET rig, at least not without spending a year's sallary or more. That presence is haunting in a great SET rig. What it traditionally does not do as well at is the extremes of frequency extension. It's all about the midrange presence and holographic presentation in space. It is addictive if you really appreciate those qualities. One other thing it is not good at is complex, layered music like orchestral or hard rock. Advocates will argue that they enjoy those genres on their SET rigs, as did I on occasion. I would respond that they are much better served by other topologies. I got hooked on SET and remained hooked for just over six years. Other amps came and went, but my Quicksilver 300B SET amps stayed. I found that haunting 'presence' they offered to be addictive. They did meet their match, no, that's not right...I found something that did everything so well, with such balance and finesse, including presenting a palpable holographic stage, albeit not the rival of SET, but with so much more all-round performance while not giving up too much (much more so than anything else I'd heard with the only exception being perhaps Atma-Sphere OTL amps which also sound very compelling to me offering much of what SET has to offer along with the frequency extension they lack). The amps that de-throned my SET amps were Modwright KWA 150 amps. I never thought I'd have a SS amp again as they'd never really grabbed me enough to even consider one, but this just does not sound like any SS amp I've heard. Disclaimer: Dan is a client of mine. Make of that what you will, but I sold my 300b's to afford the KWA. The KWA sound definitely gives a knod to tubes, but I would not define it as "tube-like". It also has SS qualities in spades, especially in grabbing the low end by the barnacles and not letting go, yet it does not sound like SS either. I'd mostly been drawn to tube amps and have owned many over the years, as well as having enjoyed others in close friend's systems. The only other SS amp I'd heard that would have me consider owning it was an Ayre. Mind you, no SS amp I've heard can do what SET can do quite as well, but SET has a fairly narrow appeal in terms of what it does well, and what music it suits best (IMO - again, advocates may argue but that's been my experience). To the OP's question - it's certainly a path I'd look into if you are after very natural, palpable presence, but do be aware of its limitations. Is it the path we should all end up at - absolutely not. I can imagine there are many people who would not appreciate what SET has to offer and would choose other qualities. There is no path we should all end up at. The choices are infinite. So many amps, so little time.

SET is best if you have the speakers for it.

Thanks for the responses gentlemen.
I have owned many tube components, including 2 amplifiers ( ya WOW, I know ), and currently have a Cary slp-98 and an EAR 834P, I like tubes ( I haven't updated my system photos for a while )
The only reason I replaced my Cary sli-80 was that a McIntosh mc2500 was dropped in my lap and it sounded much better with my then speakers, the Spendor sp1/2e's.
I am currently trying to acquire a pair of Audio Note AN-e/spe's ( possibly the ones Jax2 was going to look at ?) Of course I will try them with my mac, but I don't see this pairing come up too often in my searches.
I am a fiddler of oc proportions. I love/hate rolling tubes, I move my speakers way more often then necessary ( the floor around my speakers looks like it has been shot with a shotgun ) , build my own stands, then change and rebuilt them, and have everything on some type of isolation thingy. I love fussing.
I don't often listen to loud stadium rock, or large orchestral music. I am looking to trick my brain in the most believable, extreme manor.
The an-e's go down to 20hz, so hopefully I won't be losing any bass. I have been considering the Transcendent set otl 1.5w amp currently for sale which I have been told has very deep and tight bass along with all the other desirable SET qualities.
Sounds like I am a candidate for a SET amp. Thanks for your time.

Yes, from your latest input, Hanaleimike, I would definitely recommend giving it a try. Should be a great match with AudioNote speakers. OTL is definitely is worth pursuing as well - it will give you very similar qualities, albeit different in both subtle, and not so subtle ways. All SET are not created equal either. Various tubes render different characters alltogether. Definitely look for substantial power supplies as this will make a significant difference in my experience. The one common theme I'd say is that the emphasis seems to always come out as midrangecentric and creating a holographic illusion (at best). The real flea-powered SET stuff really just focuses all its energies on midrange and is entirely a one-trick pony in my experience. But that trick is pretty damn good. Parallel SET is also worth consideration, as is push-pull triode. Those AU15's Grant is using are great amps. There's currently a pair of Wright Mono 10's that are quite similar, but not quite as good, at a bargain price here if you are looking in that ballpark. If you have greater funds, and or need better-looking casework, look elsewhere.