I am running JBL L100 (Alnico, straight line speakers). In the manual, it says sensitivity is 78dB/1w @ 15 feet. I read somewhere that it is equivalent to 90-91 dB/1w/1m.
That is correct. For a box-type (non-planar) speaker it can be calculated that 78 db/1w/15 feet corresponds to 91 db/1w/1m.
However I agree with the red flags cited by Kalali, and unless you listen exclusively at low volumes and to recordings having narrow dynamic range a 9 watt SET will not be powerful enough for 91 db speakers.
I assume from the quoted statement, btw, that your speakers are original L100s, not the "L100 Classic" that apparently is being produced currently. The latter having specs of 90 db/2.83 volts/1m and a 4 ohm nominal impedance, which corresponds to only 87 db/1 watt/1m.
I couldn’t find an impedance curve for the original L100, that would show how its 8 ohm nominal impedance varies over the frequency range. But the VTA ST-120s relatively high damping factor (for a tube amp) of 16, which at least theoretically corresponds to an output impedance for an 8 ohm tap of 8/16 = 0.5 ohms, suggests that it is likely to be able to interact with the speaker’s impedance variations in a reasonable manner. And its 270K input impedance would certainly be a suitable match for your line stage.
Also, I found the listing you referred to for the DH-500 upgrade, and I see that the upgraded amplifier has a specified input impedance of only 33K, rather than the 47K of the original. I would definitely not pair a 33K input impedance with your line stage.
So while I haven’t researched comments on the sonics of the ST-120, if those are encouraging that amp would seem to me to be the clear choice among the three possibilities you cited.
Good luck. Regards,
-- Al