SET amp recommendation


Recently made the switch from Cary 805 AE to Atma Sphere OTL pre-amp and amp. The OTL dynamics and sound is where I live now, but still looking back over my shoulder at SET. I still have a Cary SLP 05 preamp with no one to play with. Can someone give me a recommendation for a good used SET (any configuration) amp for $1,500 or less. See a lot out there, but could use some guidance.
erfranke
Al, you are the man when it comes to clear technical explanations.I don`t have an engineering background but my ears sure told something very good is happening with the higher ohm speaker loads and tube amplifiers(particularly
SET amps).
Best Regards,
12-12-11: Erfranke
I guess what I am looking for is SET configuration that is not overly colored or muddy. The Carys were nice, but just say I am glad I didnt pay full price for them.
I had a similar Cary experience with the Cary SEI 300B. Lush, intimate, involving, but too much of each for my taste.

As Zmanastronomy suggested above, the Almarro A318-B is a terrific choice. You get almost every last bit of the SET "magic" without the coloration. And it is 18wpc. That extra ~3dB in output makes a difference sometimes.
The assumption that 300b SET are all lush and colored is as inaccurate as stating all solid state or all push-pull tube amps sound the same.
There`s such a wide assortment of character among the many 300b amps available, slow.fat and syrupy to fast,tight and lean.
What circuit/Parts quality?Level of transformer and power supply?Cary,Wavelength,Yamamoto,Coincident,Tron or Art audio, they`re all different.
Which 300b tube? Generic chinese,JJ,Sophia,EML or W.E.?
What driver tube? Capacitor,interstage transformer,choke or direct coupled signal path?
Far too many choices in amp design/implementation to stereotype the resulting sound quality.
I am hearing some good comments regarding Asian made/assembled 300b/318 SET amps. Have not considered them before; believed they were built with profit in mind, substandard components and transformers. Should i be thinking different if it is going to be a throw-down amp anyway playing second fiddle to my OTLs? Or, wait for a good used domestic?

Mixing apples and oranges, I am curious about the sound profiles of other non-SET amp configurations, such as McIntosh, PrimaLuna, Integrated amps using EL34,EL84, 6550s, the list is endless. Has anyone had a good experience with any of these they want to share?
I think you are all over the map and don't know what you want. You might as well put solid state amps in the mix and class D as well.