Budget SET or SEP recommendations?

Strong 2nd on the George Wright stuff.  Yes, he passed away, and the finish on some of his stuff is not so hot, but soundwise they're amazing.

If you're buying new, I'd avoid the cheap-ish stuff.  SETs only sound as good as their output transformers, and there's no way to do those without $s (other than buying used).  Fi, Audio Note, and Cary all make/made wonderful gear, and there are smaller manufacturers (like Final, noted above, and also the late George Wright) who only sold direct on the web, who offer solid products.  I recommend buying the DVD with all the back issues of Sound Practices magazine and familiarizing yourself who's who in SET/SEP world.

Hi , if I may and my 2 cents . I have a 2 year old Dennis Had Inspire KT88, with a 9 pin driver . There is a newer octal driver version at a higher price . Mine was $1200 on eBay . Dennis is a great guy and the Inspire is a great little amp that's built like a tank . I have KT77,6L6gc,6550,KT88 and KT120 tubes for it . 5 rectifiers and about 8 E88CC driver tubes including Telefunken and Seimens CCa. It shipped with new production Gold Lion KT88 and GZ34 and 2 budget NOS driver tubes . I've spent at least $2k rolling tubes. It's self biasing and it's bomb proof . I can run the higher voltage Mullard CV 5745 and KT 120's for hours , without issue . I usually use my Zu Omens , but also have Klipsch Heresy II's and KG 1.5's. It isn't powerful enough to run my JBL 4312's. I feed it with a Rogue RP1 with Seimens silver plates or Tektronix Telefunkens . I have budget interconnects , cables and power cords . I'm very happy with the amp and Dennis . I highly recommended them both . In retrospect you could keep the KT88 Gold Lions and the GZ 34. Just pop in an E88CC Telefunken ( $150). And you're good to go. Next would be a Phillips 5R4GY from upscale audio. If you want more power a nos Mullard GZ34 (fx32) and Tung Sol KT 120's . Also sweet are the SED 6L6GC's or the 6550's. Low power an EL34 or KT 66/77 and a 5U4g. If your considering the Dynamo34, as I did ( but didn't audition), ENJOY THE MUSIC, August 2014 , has a nice article on a budget system pairing the Coincident with Tekton speakers . My Inspire paired with the Omens and a 10" sub , work very well. I use a Schiit Bifrost to play Tidal and the clarity is fantastic as well as the soundstage . With the KT 120's classic rock that has pronounced bass like Pink Floyd and Grand Funk Railroad really don't require the sub. It's a really powerful 12 watts . On low power, artists like Sonny Rollins and Dave Brubeck really shine . Especially with NOS Tung Sol 6550's or Psvane KT88 Ti's .Acoustic groups like Peter ,Paul and Mary sound great with any tube combo . It might be a little high for your budget , but if you get one , I bet you won't sell it . My next endeavor is to build a pair of Bob Latino 125 mono blocks , cause I miss my JBL's. I'm going to hook them to the extra pair of outputs on the Rogue and just choose between the Inspire/ Zu, or the Latino/JBL's when I power on . I had an Antique Sound Labs 30 wpc amp after having Dynaco MKIII's and an SCA 35. Although the ASL had no issues , im just not fond of Chinese gear . So I hope I provided you with some help and wish you the best . Regards , Mike.

Enjoyed your 2 cents Mike.I have the Dynamo MKII and am using some of the same tubes you referenced.Takes the performance to another level.
I think the OP would be happy with either the Inspire or the Dynamo.

Interesting to me nobody mentioned Yamamoto. The 45 and 2a3 are in the same price range as the Finale 300B, but the Yamamoto 300B is more expensive.

Seems this brand is not well promoted in North America. Fit and finish also off the charts. Worth reading Srajan's review at 6moons.

A couple of things I've realized after a few weeks with the Inspire Fire Bottle: Now I'm chained to high efficiency speakers since (at least for now) I'm so smitten by the performance of the Had amp. I also realized it's not so easy to communicate with Had (2 exchanges so far, but my most recent query about the LP3-A preamp he'd mentioned was a couple of weeks ago and no response yet…if the LP3-A had remote volume I'd buy one) as it's over Ebay messaging only…I get that…also his amps are so rarely on the market they're almost Unobtanium, although maybe there are so few SE amp heads out there it doesn't matter.