Sophia Electric Baby Amp

[Poultrygeist]

It's common to read of folks who progress from SS to push pull tube amps and then on to SET's but I've never heard of anyone who ever gave up SET's for SS.

My $2500 SS Classe CAP-150 was totally embarrassed by my $250 Miniwatt SET while my $350 Bottlehead 2a3 SET is way better than my Miniwatt. If you haven't heard a good SET ( and I haven't heard a bad one ) I would think it impossible to have an educated opinion or say it's a matter of preference. The difference is not even close.

[Feanor]

It's common to read of folks who progress from SS to push pull tube amps and then on to SET's but I've never heard of anyone who ever gave up SET's for SS.

My $2500 SS Classe CAP-150 was totally embarrassed by my $250 Miniwatt SET while my $350 Bottlehead 2a3 SET is way better than my Miniwatt. If you haven't heard a good SET ( and I haven't heard a bad one ) I would think it impossible to have an educated opinion or say it's a matter of preference. The difference is not even close.

Ship me your Bottlehead so I can try it out, PG. If I like it, I'll buy it from you and reimburse the shipping.

BTW, I don't doubt that the Classé and SETs sound different.

[Ajani]

It's common to read of folks who progress from SS to push pull tube amps and then on to SET's but I've never heard of anyone who ever gave up SET's for SS.

That means far less than SET lovers think. As you know, SS is widely available while SET is rare. Hence, someone who owns a SET has likely owned/auditioned many SS amps before moving to SET (as both you and RGA did). So why would you switch back? Clearly you both preferred SET when you tried it.

Someone who auditions SET and doesn't like it, simply won't buy it.

My $2500 SS Classe CAP-150 was totally embarrassed by my $250 Miniwatt SET while my $350 Bottlehead 2a3 SET is way better than my Miniwatt. If you haven't heard a good SET ( and I haven't heard a bad one ) I would think it impossible to have an educated opinion or say it's a matter of preference. The difference is not even close.

Here's the problem with that logic. Having never heard a SET I can't say whether I'd prefer the sound to SS or not. However I can say that it is a matter of preference. Why? Because enough experienced audiophiles have tried SET and still prefer their SS gear. So clearly not everyone loves it.

I've heard the same kind of over the top claims about dipoles. Yet I've not been impressed enough by any of the ones I've heard to want to ditch all "monkey coffins".

I certainly intend to audition a SET/HE combo, and I think bottlehead or decware are prime candidates for SET amps.