What is the magic behind SET

A good place to read about SET is the SET forum on Audio Asylum. Very large archive of information to learn about SET amps.

To me the biggest SET magic is the immediacy factor. A SET system can sound bright, soft or somewhere inbetween, but the music always seems to be more intimate or in contact with the emotion. That gives a live feeling that other system often found lacking. Whether this factor is true to the recording is debatable, but I don't really care that much about accuracy. I am just here to enjoy the music.

Eric

Here is my journey:

I started out with Cary 300B SEI 5-6 years ago, but my speakers were not good match for them. I ended up going to an all Levinson Avalon system for a few years. I was never quite satisfied with that system. It did all the technical things right but I could not enjoy it for various reasons.
Anyway, I ended up switching to a home theater only system.

A year or so ago, I decided to try out SET again in the bedroom ssytem, but first thing I did was to find some efficient speakers. Coincident Triumph UHS were the only speakers that fit in the bedroom and 92-94dB efficent/high-impedance. (My wife would never allow horn speakers in the master bedroom) Then I tried out an ASL Orchid 2A3 integrated. It sounded great but it always runs out of power with rock/symphonic music. 3W/ch is not quite enough. So I switched over to a Dared 845 SET integrated. Rolled a few tubes. Funny, this is the most musically involved system I had in the last 10 years and it did not cost $40k.

My suggestion for SET game is:
1) Find the speakers that you like. Flat impedance curves > 4 Ohms is most important. Efficency will mater if you have a mid to large room.
2) Match the amp output power to speaker accordingly. The power output requirement will determine the type of tubes you can live with.