If you love 6L6GC tube based amplifiers: Check out Pine Tree Audio's new SET design

A dear friend of mine borrowed the Pine Tree Audio 6L6GC SE to try it in his system. He too was shocked at its performance and felt it a marvel based on price vs. performance ratio. He will be purchasing one in the next few days.

teajay is onto something here... I have the luxury of having this amp in-house, and it's an absolute gem.  The textures and colors are vivid, along with being "warm and woolly" at the same time.  Incredible decay, richness, and resolving timber, with a naturalness that goes with the flow.  Male voices have that "chest", image depth is palpable, and soundstaging is excellent.  It has that special tube-like sound, along with dynamics, pace, and a window into the recording that would make Windex envious.  

The amp is dead silent.  The drive (current) feels strong for its power rating.  

Seems like a delight for tube rollers.  With only 1 pre-amp tube and 2 power tubes, it offers a really fun way to "roll" through options.  For now, I've only listened to it with the stock tubes.  I'm looking forward to the upside of exploring a number of NOS options.  Add to this that it's hand-built in the USA, and it's a great addition to the audiophile landscape.

If this amp is a good fit for the power-envelope requirements of your speakers/listening environment, it's hard to think of a better value.  It would require a significantly higher investment to improve on.  

In terms of price-to-performance ratio, this amp nails the diminishing returns equation.  

Nice to hear affordable tube gear is being made here in Massachusetts.  

John here, I have the Pine Tree Earth Tone 6L6 GC SET amp and will do a review on it. The amp is stunning in sound.  This amp has the bass control I hear from my Solid State Plinius SA-50 class A amp and the hollow graphic wonderful mid range of a SET.  I am stunned that a 5 watt amp sounds so good and controls my speakers. That said I am using Devore O/96 speakers that have a 10 to 12 ohm resistance so likely I have found synergy.  This amp is the most surprisingly to the good audio product I have experienced.  It is also dead quiet.  Highly recommend. 

Best

jh

I will be buying one to play with in rotation with my main hybrid Int amp.   Look forward to playing with it!