Presuming I have a sympathetic pair of loudspeakers to mate the amplifier with, and admitting to being willing to live with the inherent tradeoffs of the marriage, I prefer the lower power SET amps. There is a certain magic there that I feel the larger tubes cannot match.
Of course, in most real world scenarios, where people use more conventional loudspeakers, if one is going to choose the SET route, you would need the higher power variants.
However, as opposed to going the 211 or 845 route, I've personally found more happiness in either using the smaller tubes in either parallel single-ended (preferred) or push-pull operation, or even (heaven forbid!) a good Class A push-pull EL34 amp.
Of course, in most real world scenarios, where people use more conventional loudspeakers, if one is going to choose the SET route, you would need the higher power variants.
However, as opposed to going the 211 or 845 route, I've personally found more happiness in either using the smaller tubes in either parallel single-ended (preferred) or push-pull operation, or even (heaven forbid!) a good Class A push-pull EL34 amp.