What's the greatest bargain in SET these days?


Hi, Gang,
I response to my recent review of the Reference 3A De Capo BE speaker, someone wrote that if you really want to hear them sing, you should try them with a SET amp, or words to that effect.
That got me thinking. The De Capo's are 92 db efficient, which (correct me if I'm wrong) seems kind of borderline for low-power SET amps.
In any event, right now I'm running mine with a pair of Manley Mahi mono-blocks. They are switchable from triode (20 watts) to "ultra linear" (40 watts). I run them in triode all the time, and in my room, the volume knob almost never goes past 9 o'clock; more would just be too loud.
All that said, what do you guys think of running the De Capo's with a SET amp? And if I did, what's the best bargain in SET's these days?
Thanks!
rebbi
Saki, I believe you stated you own the Primaluna Prologue integrated, which I know intimately. I also own the Primaluna One with excellent upgraded tubes from the stock tubes. I also know this integrated intimately. Both my wife and I like the Coincident better with the various Tekton speakers we own, especially the M-Lore. Granted it is a close call, but the Coincident is the winner in our view. The Primaluna is a really good amp, versatile, great tube rolling possibilities; but for some reason both my wife and I think the Coincident is more organic, the music flows better. The tone, timbre, bass and dynamics are better on the Dynamo as now constituted. I admit that I haven't experienced every option on the Primaluna Dialogue. Tim Smith said that the Primaluna is twice as good with KT120s over the EL34s. I don't know? Since the Coincident has only 2 power tubes as opposed to 4 in the Primaluna it's much less expensive to operate with premium tubes.
Bill,
I can't address the technical differences,only the subjective listening. Mikirob actually summed it up superbly! The 300b is simply more natural sounding and thus more realistic. Tone,timbre,harmonic nuance and musical fluidity are superior IMHO. Can a good el34 amp sound very good? Absolutely yes, and better than a mediocore 300b amp. If implemented to a high level I'll choose the 300b option. It inherently is more authentic,richer yet more open with better resolution and transparency. This is what the higher cost tube gets you. These are just my listening impressions over the years.
I know Mikirob compared el34 vs el34 as push pull vs SET but the subjective distinctions are nearly the same.
This thread gets better and better! Thank you Charles, and everybody for the ongoing discussion of the sonic distinctions between the EL-34 and directly heated triodes.
It's interesting that the Decware site kind of addresses this in its advertising for the amp I've been considering. His EL-34 amps feature what he calls the "Hazen grid mod." My shallow understanding is that this involves placing a capacitor at a certain value between two particular pins on the EL-34 tube. This is supposed to push the sonic performance of that tube to a much higher level. The ad copy says:
"Taking advantage of the unique qualities of the EL34 this amp comes standard with the Hazen Grid Mod. As a result, the transparency and musicality it has sets a new benchmark for EL34 that exceeds directly heated triode amplifiers at twice the price."
I can't comment on the truthfulness of this claim, but it's interesting that he is addressing the perceived performance gap between the EL-34 and directly heated triodes.
Rebbi,
It is not surprising Decware would use DHTs as their reference target. Do they equal or surpass DHTs? That's up to the listener to determine.