Would You Rather Own A Good SET Amp, Or A Great Push Pull Amp?

SETs need high efficiency speakers and ideally subwoofers to support them. Compared to PP, which offer balanced operation, in my experience SETs major benefit is a better rendition of attack and decay.They subjectively have a faster attack (particularly noticeable on the reeds in oboes and clarinets and more organic reverb (best heard on good piano recordings).While @atmasphere is firmly advocating balanced connection I have so far been unable to replicate this SET advantage in a balanced setup. Even with highest efficiency horn speakers, headbangers listening to amplified instruments should stick to PP since in most instances the above SET benefits have been obviated by the PP amplifiers used when recording.

Having been around this crazy hobby for 40 years+ I have yet to find a better amp for listening to classical and jazz than Nobu Shishido’s Wavac EC300B with Takatsuki tubes.

@atmasphere,

As a woodwind player myself, I look for typical breathing, wind and reed rasping sounds at the very beginning of a note. Having had amps from Accuphase, Chord and a Graaf GM20 before the Wavac I can safely say that none of these as well as numerous amps in other peoples’ systems have been able to reproduce a lifelike resemblance equal to the Wavac. If you call that distortion, then be it. The amp certainly wasn’t driven too hard.

Here is the Audio Beatnik on this subject: https://www.dagogo.com/beatnik-pet-peeves-part-one/