Back in the 'Sound Practices' day, I played with SE amps. 300B and 2A3. PP 6B4Gs too. Though pleasant sounding, I was forever trying to find a good speaker to match up with them. I tried different modern and vintage coaxials without success.
I eventually turned away from Triode SE and back into Ultralinear designs. The higher power worked better with my Altec 604 / Eminence speakers (ie - the UREI 813A). The best DIY design of mine was a SE EL156 UL with a pentode front end. Lots of power (~20Ws), fast, detailed but not clinical. This was nirvana for me.
Then I accidentally got a good deal on a Threshold S/500 amplifier. They gripped the UREI speakers better than any tube amp I have ever heard. No solid state glare or grain - and they have enough power to drive any speaker I would want.
So I sold my SE EL156 amps to a friend (where they are still churning away) and after twenty years of tube amps jumped on the solid state wagon. I'm not getting off either. Though lacking in some of the qualities that tube gear has, good solid-state also has it's own signature that appeals to me.
I eventually turned away from Triode SE and back into Ultralinear designs. The higher power worked better with my Altec 604 / Eminence speakers (ie - the UREI 813A). The best DIY design of mine was a SE EL156 UL with a pentode front end. Lots of power (~20Ws), fast, detailed but not clinical. This was nirvana for me.
Then I accidentally got a good deal on a Threshold S/500 amplifier. They gripped the UREI speakers better than any tube amp I have ever heard. No solid state glare or grain - and they have enough power to drive any speaker I would want.
So I sold my SE EL156 amps to a friend (where they are still churning away) and after twenty years of tube amps jumped on the solid state wagon. I'm not getting off either. Though lacking in some of the qualities that tube gear has, good solid-state also has it's own signature that appeals to me.