SET vs Push-Pull (Line Magnetic vs Primaluna)

I find theorising about about amp-speaker pairings to be a fairly futile excercise.

Science can often give you a good idea of what to expect but there's a lot to be said for the empirical method.


In the case of the OP, the room is the big variable. If its a smaller room a 50 watt SET might work, although it will be unable to show off the bandwidth of the speakers (where a 7 watt unit could...).  If a bigger room with nice carpets and the like the SET will be pushed past its 20-25% rule of thumb limit and/or may well just fall right flat on its face.


(In order to find out a fair bit of $$$$ might have to flushed down the loo; if you can arrange for an audition prior to purchase!)


Many people push SETs past this 20% rule; that is where the idea that SETs have such great dynamics comes from; the 'dynamics' is actually distortion although the amplifier isn't being overloaded.

@mabonn  Forget it. Your speakers are not efficient enough to allow you to really hear what an SET is really all about. Almost any SET should not be driven past 20-25% of full power if you want to hear what they do in their best light; on top of that getting full bandwidth like your speakers have now means that a 7 watt SET might be the limit. This would limit you to only low level listening.

IOW if you want to hear what an SET does you really should have a speaker that's about 8-10dB more efficient.