SET vs Class A vs tubes vs Class AB amps

I couldn’t agree more that one of the most, if not the most consideration is system synergy to your tastes, and less about type/class.  An additional important factor is what type genre of music you listen to and what is the source.  For me, SET tubes deliver the best tone for voices, either analog or digital.  But it falls way short on delivering the goods through dynamic passages or rock, where a couple of different Class A classics are my choice. If digital, my best sound is delivered with tubes all the way through- SET if light voices, tube PP (monoblocks) if other. If vinyl, I lean to solid-state amps behind my 28 tube Aesthetix IO Sig phono unless it is a single guitar or similar.  I too have a multitude of options when it comes to amps- SET, SEP, PP with tubes, Class A, A/B solid state, mosfet, Bipolar, SIT, etc., etc.  and all that is somewhat irrelevant, my decisions are based on the sound.  Yesterday I did a listening session where I biamped two BEL 1001’s in stereo (one amp channel driving the base, the other the mid/treble, one dedicated to each speaker) vs the 1001’s bridged in Monoblock.  Big difference, not necessarily better, but different. The biamped implementation was warmer with a bit more meat on the bones vs the bridged implementation which had a much wider and deeper soundstage- I preferred the bridged mode.  I am starting a shootout where I am going to compare and contrast three classic Class A amps.  Stay tuned.

Hi Wolf-Garcia-

1) got autocorrected. Yes, bass, sorry I missed it.
2) Thanks for your thoughts, but I don’t agree with your premise, but I’m glad you are happy with your system. Things are so system and component specific that is is hard to sometimes understand why someone prefers one system tone to another.  But, a general subjective statement that I think is more often accurate than not is that if you took a common audiophile system and swapped in a <25 watt, 2 volt input sensitivity amp, like the Inspire, most would be happy at nominal listening levels but disappointed at higher levels.
i think it is like the trade-off I feel with Magnepans.  I had three different models for 20 years and was ecstatic with the imaging and speed.  However, compared to a dynamic speaker, their bass is lacking- I’m sure some will argue this, but most agree that Magnepans are a bit lacking in the bottom. And to put a 10-20 or 30 watt amp as the drivers would be really disappointing.
I’m looking for extraordinary realism, sometimes at fairly high SPL’s. I’ve found that some of the less powerful tube amps and less sensitive amps in general have challenges in my system with analog. I owned a Dennis had Inspire amp for 18 months, pretty good on voice and mid/treble, but in my system, lacks bottom end with only 18 watts and a fairly low input sensitivity ( probably around 2 volts but Dennis doesn’t publish its sensitivity.  A BEDINI by comparison is .5v input sensitivity). BTW- speakers are Von Schweikert’s- 93db Efficient and 6 ohm.  I have found that for me, input sensitivity is important because I am using a pure tube phono stage (up to 80db gain) and a zero gain line stage.  So listening to vinyl, sensitivity is critical in my kit, which is not “simply something wrong”, just a preference and trade off I have as nothing- as in nothing- I have heard in any system to date- delivers the realism of my Benz-VPI- Vibraplane-Aesthetix-Truth front end.  I’m know I could add a line stage with gain or a SUT or a solid-state phono amp or listen to digital to “fix” my system and allow a lower powered amp to perform at a louder level without sonic degradation, but overall the tone and sonics would suffer for it.  
In addition, comparing a Bedini 25/25 with a 100/100 (same design and sensitivity 25 watts vs 100 watts) both sound pretty much the same at lower SPL’s and less demanding passages, but at some point the 25 clips and runs out of oomph before the 100. I’m not a head banger, both amps are well designed and play things well to a point. For me, in my fairly highly resolved system with many dependencies, the low power amps are really good on some things but not everything. realize not everyone shares my bias or preference, nor wants to deal with the overhead, but I can say that I am happy where I landed.