Tube Amps

Suggest having a look at new Pathos Classic One.See ukd.co.uk and pathosacoustics.com.Hybrid amp.Very nice !

You did not mention any power requirements or new / used. But in your price range I would suggest a Conrad Johnson Premier 11a (70wpc) used; very reliable and user friendly. My first and only tube amp experience. I miss that amp and wish I had it back. In my limited experience the issues I had with tube amplification is heat, they need good ventilation, and the occasional rebiasing of the power tubes. IMO as long as stay with a reputable manufacturer you shouldn't have any major issues. You will need to replace the tubes after two or three years of normal use, however, that is farily simple. As far as sound quality versus SS you will need to be the judge of that.

Other manufacturers with good reputations are Cary Audio and Balanced Audio Technologies (BAT). Hope I could help.

Chuck

Tube amps are really not that hard to use or maintain, but there is somewhat more effort involved than with SS. For your first amp I would recommend that you get one that is fairly idiot proof but that allows you to maintain your self. Individual bias pots and built in meter is fundamental to ease of use and tube rolling. Make sure that you can easily find good replacement tubes at fair prices. Make sure that you can easily bias the power tubes yourself. Its nice if the unit has a fuse to protect the bias resistors if a power tube shorts out - saves a trip to the service tech (this doesn't happen often, especially if you buy tubes that are known for being rugged in the first place, and avoid tubes which are not. (I just bought an integrated unit with both a fuse and auto bias, talk about idiot proof). You must also adopt the attitude the tube changes WILL BE necessary and its not a big deal, just keep extra tubes on hand so when one fails prematurely you can just replace it, and keep a set of both small tubes and power tubes on hand so you can replace them when they ware out. No different than doing maintanence on your car. Then sit back and enjoy. If you provide some detail about your speakers, room size, and listening preferences you might get some meaningful reccomendations.

As others comment, allowing for for easy bias adjustment with a built in meter is a good feature. But note that (1) some tube amps use LEDs that go dark when the amp is correctly adjusted (easy to do) rather than a meter (e.g., the Conrad-Johnson MV-60) and (2) some tube amps are automatically self-biasing with internal sensing circuitry so the user doesn't have to do any bias adjustments at all (e.g., the BAT VK-55).
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