How to pick your first SET tube amp?

How do I get to Carnegie Hall?? Practice, Practice, Practice

How do I buy my first set amp? carefully, carefully, carefully

Sorry.(but true)

"What is the difference between EL34 and 300b". There are many makes of both tubes each with it's own voice. In addition, each tube can be in a differently designed amp so the variations are almost endless. Way to much to say here.

A big difference, in addition to sound, is power. All respect to Rockbox and the Bottleheads I cannot recommend a 2A3 because it is not going to be a good marriage with your new speakers that come in at a sensitivity of 94. You might "get along" in a small room at modest levels but the 2A3's will not sing at 3W. Why bother?

I will suggest a couple sites to look at. Paul Joppa, a chief Bottlehead, put together a little info at audioasylum.com in the FAQ section. He talks about matching amps and speakers for power and provides a nice formula. Take a look if you haven't already. One of the biggest mistakes is to underpower your speakers. Paul Joppa is very smart and seems to be a very nice guy too.

At Enjoythemusic.com they recently had a very nice review of 9 different 300b's. Nicest quick summary I've seen for a while on available 300bs (of course there are different opinions). Finally try Thetubestore.com for lots of info about the tubes you ask about and then some.

Also the "Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity" site has the best simple overview, about a dozen pages if I remember, of what a tube does that I have seen. Cathodes, anodes, grids, voltage, bias, AC/DC ect, ect. The name of the article is "Amplifiers" (Revised June, 2000).

If you want more sites drop an e-mail to me I have quite a few.

Geez it's late at night.

Sincerely, I remain

I have a pair of Coincident Victory(s) (97db, 14ohm) and have tried many amps with it. I did not get good results with a 2A3 SET as it simply did not have enough power. The Rogue 88, as recommended in the above post, worked superbly in its triode mode. The Music Reference RM10 was very neutral and quiet, but is slightly lean sounding. I even tried the Berning OTL 270 which to my surprise also sounded a little lean, but was very lively sounding.

I also want to try Coincident's own 300B amps, but like yourself am hesistant because of price and the amp being untested (it should work well with their own speakers don't you think). I think Antique Sound Labs may have an amp similar in design to Coincidents that may be worth a try or at least worth investigating.

Clueless has suggested some good advise that I agree with. With your new speakers you need more wattage like a 300B can provide. Check out other sites for information.

Don't hesitate to try Coincident's amps. I have purchased 4 tube amps custom built/modded to the max by Israel, and he knows what he is doing (a pair of Golden Tube Audio 8 watt 300B monoblocks, and a pair of vintage Altec 1570B monoblocks- 170 wpc in triode using only a pair of 811 output tubes per amp). Anything he produces is excelllent, or he doesn't bother doing it...

The speakers are not made by Isreal.They are made to his specs.One thing is certin.They are a good amp or he would not sell it.
His main Bizz is speakers he wont risk it at the expense of selling sub standard amps.