SET amps ?


Hi all, I have been a budget system builder since the mid 70's.I still have my first system ( Marantz 1060/Pioneer PL 12D ,JBL l36.I stopped in the mid 80"s for kids.I have Adcoms,NADs several Marantz's you know the deal.Anyway I picked up a pair of Tekton 4.1's and have them powered by an NAD 314.The question is , is now the time to try a SET tube amp ? I have been looking at several in the $750.00 to $1500.00 range. I do have a nice small listening room for the 4.1's . The Dared MP 2A3c looks interesting at the price.Any feed back would be helpful.How long do the tubes tend to last ? Thanks...
jazzman463

Showing 1 response by seikosha

I'm absolutely enthralled with my 2 watt Decware SE84 SET amp. After having been through a few solid state amps, some considerably more expensive, and another single ended pentode design, it's the SET that ticks my boxes.

The resolution, imaging and musicality of this one are just heads and tails above everything else I've had in my system.

At just under $900.00 I think it's worth a try if you've got speakers that are efficient. It's a 2A3 design with point to point wiring and high quality custom transformers. The primary compromise in design is the aesthetics, not the parts. The SE84 amp will not win any beauty contests though, that's for sure.

While big orchestral or heavy metal music won't sound good on my system, I suspect it's more due to my speakers than the amp. I really believe that with the right speakers, this amp could do just fine with complex music.