Enough SET Power for Rock and Roll

IMO 300B would probably be your best and safest bet given the levels you wish to attain at the distance from the speaker you listen at. The 300B will supply more headroom for the peaks.

Not that a 45 or 2A3 wouldn't work, but we manufacturer both a 45 amp and 300B amp and in our listening tests with 98 DB speaker at around 10 ft. the 45 does strain a bit when SPLs hit 100 dB (our test tracks include rock, big band, and large scale classical). It is still plenty load though for our tastes.

I use both a 12 watt 13EM7 and our own 10 watt 300B SET amp and play loud rock with no problems at all.

Interesting thread.

I'd like to try a SET based setup someday but right or wrong I tend to associate SETs more with Jazz and chamber music than rock and pop, which constitutes a fair portion of my listening.

It is really hard to say what volume level you are actually trying to achieve, and therefore, whether a particular amp or kind of amp is capable of delivering adequate power. Generally speaking, I would not expect power to be an issue with any 300b, 211/845 or tetrode/pentode used in single ended fashion (e.g., KT88, El34, etc. The 45 might be marginal and even the 2a3 might be marginal.

Aside from power, you need to first determine if single-ended sound is what will fit your sonic preference. Certain pushpull tetrode/pentode amps and many solid state amps deliver a harder edged attack to notes. This can be experienced as greater "slam" to the sound and might be preferred for rock music. Also, pushpull and solid state amps tend to have tighter sounding bass which adds "punch" to the sound. You need to hear a good SET amp (one with good output transformers is the key, and that generally means not a cheap amp), to decide if the sound is right for you.

As to the characteristic sound of particular tubes, there is considerable variation with brands and sound is also affected by the particular amps. Generally speaking, the 2a3 is the leanest sounding of the types you mentioned. It does not have as much upper bass/lower midrange as the other two and bas tends to be tight; the treble on a 2a3 is wide open and airy. The 300b is just the opposite-- it is warm in the upper bass and lower bass tends toward the loose side and there is less extension on top than a 2a3. The 45 is sort of in between. It has quite punchy, tight and deep bass and is warmer than a 2a3; it is also quite open on top like a 2a3 (for my taste, the only downside to a 45 is its lower power output). Properly implemented, ALL of these tubes can produce terrific sound, and it is a matter of taste and power requirement that will ultimately determine what kind of amp is right for you.

I personally think SET amps can do rock music extremely well. I don't listen at ear splitting levels, and at lower levels I really like what SET amps do with all types of music. At lower levels a good SET amp will sound more lively and vivid than a solid state amp or most pushpull tube amps.

One more thing, do not overlook output transformerless tube amps. This type of amp sounds VERY dynamic, lively and exciting. A 30 watt OTL would make a great "rock" amp coupled to high efficiency speakers.

I have certainly been able to get some strong bass and rock levels with both of the value-priced amp options from MiniWatt (S1 and N3). Great way to try out a SET for not too much cash. Remarkably quiet tube amps, especially considering the cost.

I wonder what pairings of SET and speaker might do rock/pop best?

Klipsch Cornwall seems like a good match. Are there better ones? What kind of cost should one expect between amp and speakers to really do it well along the lines Larryi described? Any good smaller speaker options?