How to pick your first SET tube amp?

You may want to try giving Coincident a phone call. I called, Israel Blume answered the telephone, and even though I purchased my Super Eclipses used, he was happy to answer all my questions. He used to recommend a relatively inexpensive Antique Sound Labs amp on his web site before his own amps became available. I don't remenber which one.

Sc: If your room is not too large 300B based amps should work well. Lots of different flavors of these amps, though, and they do not have to be soft/slow and rolled off @ the frequency extremes if you pick wisely. A pair of mono block "kits" getting some praise as of late are the "Billies" available @ http://www.diyhifisupply.com/ (think that they are around $1K delivered). If you can solder the kit looks to be easy to build. There is more info on them in the SET Forum @ AA. I have always been happy with current production Svetlana 300B tubes which seem to be readily available for well under $250/pr and would not spend the money for new production WE's (based on the pair that I tried) - the Svet's smoked them. Depending on the circuit they can also last quite some time (very long indeed in the Audion 300B amp which I just sold). If you decide to make the leap try to stay with a "real" single ended "triode" amp (it's worth the extra $, IMO).

If I were you , I would try a 300B amp. They just have a glorious sound to them. I would also recommend the Full Music TJ 300B mesh plate tube.For the money, a pair of these beat all contenders in my opinion. Good luck in your search but go for the 300B, you won't be dissapointed.Musicians come alive in your room. They'll have you weeping with joy.
God Bless,

Hi, just following up on what I decided to try after studying all your posts. I am auditioning the Terra Star, a small, relatively inexpensive (around $900) EL-34 based 12-watt SET integrated. I investigated the Decware Zens as well, but was informed by the maker and the owners on the Decware forum that the Zen alone would not drive my Coincident Triumph Signatures sufficiently. They suggested the Decware integrated, which is also an EL-34 based SET w/4 inputs (the little Terra only has 1), but it was about $1500 so I'm going w/the Terra for now. I sure wish I could build one of those kits. But I know I would screw it up and never know if it was playing properly when I was done (if it turned on at all)! So far, I like the Terra very much. Plenty of volume on the Coincidents. It can also run on KT-88s for more headroom. I am so intrigued by these little bottle amps, I may have to try some others, esp. the 300B. But thanks for all the info and advice, my explorations have only just begun.

Sc53: Since you are going this route, you might want to look into the Audion Sterling. It lists for $1100-$1200, but the US distributor (OSS Services) may have a demo or two @ a reduced price (I know that he was just @ the Las Vegas show anyway). It is also EL34, etc., based, but uses a single 6922 type tube for the input and a single 5687 for the driver tube. Why I suggest this amp is that quality 6922 tubes are still plentiful and different driver tubes effect the sound quite a bit. You will also only require single signal tubes (matched per side) instead of matched pairs. Good 6SN7's/VT-231's (which I believe the Terra uses) are getting harder to come by. There is a review of the Sterling @ the TNT website. Just a thought as I almost purchased this amp myself @ one time. If you do happen to come up with a demo, email me and I will set you up with better (than stock) signal tubes which are usually Sovtek and National.