Looking to get into tubes?

The Prima Luna is the best choice for this reason: Where are you going to send the Cayin for repairs? China? I don't know of any repair centers in the US that take care of Cayin equipment. But I could be wrong.

Given your small room, speaker choices and low volume listening, I'd take a chance on the "6BQ5 Custom Integrated Amp w Bugle Boys" posted for sale on 4/8.

I've no connection whatsoever with the seller.

The pictures show a meticulous build.

The price is right.

I've found the 5687/6SN7 tube input stage designs very faithful sonically. TDK makes a nice volume pot.

The seller emphasizes the quietness of this amp - if assumed to be accurate, a huge bonus for low volume listening.

Just my 2 cents...

jb

OK, please tell me about tube cost, availability,resources, how long do they last, tube matching, tube rolling-compatability, break-in? These things are still unknown to me and I feel are important since Solid State is just essentially plug in & play.

Thanks for all of your opinions. I am still undecided weather or not to take the plunge though. I think that all the fussing and tube Hi-Fi minutia might make me crazier than my present state. We ARE all crazy here anyway, aren't we?

Cheers

A set of driver ( small-signal ) tubes might last you a year if you left your amp on all the time ( I don't ). Turning off and on will reduce tube life somewhat but if, like me, you have the amp on about 4 hours a day, four days a week, the tubes will last a lot longer than a year.

Output tubes ( power tubes--the big ones ) generally last about a third of the lifetime of the smaller driver tubes.

A new output tube might cost from $15 to $25. A new driver tube might cost about the same. NOS tubes ( new old stock -- tubes made thirty to seventy years ago and stored since that time -- some of us use them ) will cost you whatever you are willing to pay.

Whether matching is necessary depends on the amplifier design. Output tubes often need to be matched, and the new tube sellers sell matched sets if you need them. Driver tube matching becomes important if you are buying used tubes for use in pairs, quads, etc. Otherwise you can just buy a pair or a quad of new ones.

Resources... do you mean where to buy tubes, or where to find out more? New tubes are easy to find.

Breaking in a new tube might take ten or twenty hours of use.

Tube gear does need a little more care than the other kind. Mostly you need to keep it well-ventilated so that overheating never becomes a problem.

Enjoy!