best tube integrated under $5000 ?

If you need only one input, there are some amps that have volume controls built-in that can act as a single input integrated amp.

One of these is the David Berning ZH-270. It is a 70wpc tube amp that is self-biasing, has very long tube life, excellent reliability, and is commonly compared sonically to some of the most expensive and respected amps in the world. Unless your speakers are very inefficient, this should drive them very nicely. The only thing about it is that it is not a fancy showpiece, it is only a plain looking box that sounds great. Be prepared, there is probably a waiting list to get a new one, and used ones are rarely seen. When you do see one, it is about 80% of the new price because they hold their used value about as well or better than anything out there. Reputation is legendary.

Aranov 961i $3,600

arc vs55 , cj ca50, arc ca50. great units built to last a lifetime. the ARC has an awesome matching CD player too.

Twl- You are dead on about the ZH-270, with one exception that may be important to Mike. It has two line level inputs, switchable on the front panel. It is an absolutely outstanding amplifier. If you use CD and phono, get a great outboard phono stage and your good to go. If you use CD and FM, all set as is. If you add other sources, you can always jack the output of the pre into one of the inputs, like I do.

Swamp... have you compared the berning with and without a pre using the same source, and if yes, how did the two compare?