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

@atmasphere. I'm only getting to respond to your response to my comment now due to the fact that in transferring to fibre broadband, my ISP managed to leave me with no internet access at all for several days - only resolved just now.

The original Halcro amplifier was, for me, the most vivid demonstration of how an ultra low distortion amp with multiple levels of NF can sound utterly unmusical.

yoyoyaya,

I too was shocked at how lifeless, flat, and unmusical was the sound of Halcro amps.  Clearly, low measured distortion is far from the only thing that matters.  

@yoyoyaya I remember hearing something like that too. 

The thing about distortion is we don't put a weight on the harmonics generated. The higher ordered harmonics are the ones that really mess with the ear- the 2nd and 3rd, hardly at all. 

But most amps have what looks like low higher ordered harmonic distortion on paper. If those harmonics are masked by lower orders (the 2nd and 3rd) then they aren't heard. SETs have the most higher ordered harmonics of any kind of amp made, but because the 2nd and 3rd harmonics they also make are prodigious enough, the amp sounds nice and smooth. 

Where I'm going with this is that the distortion signature of the amp is more important than the THD. The amp might be quite low in distortion but if the higher orders are not masked it will not sound musical. 

@sns  - thank you so much for your thorough and detailed reply : ) - you have raised important issues there to consider. If I may ask further - have you encountered any particular typology or signal chain to speaker that is not biased to either a forward or recessed presentation but is neutral as a general characteristic?

In friendship - kevin

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.