Inexpensive Tube Amps

@will62 .. I think you made a good choice with the TubeCube 7. A while back I purchased the APPJ PA0901A ($180, now discontinued). I believe it was APPJ who originated the design and licensed it to Tube Depot (and others). I used it for about 6 months before rolling the tubes, which made a big improvement across the board. IMO this little amp sounds much, much better than it should. I purchased it as an introduction to the SET/SEP world. After living with it for a year and being sure the SET approach was for me, I placed an order for a Decware amp. The little APPJ went into storage. I won't be getting rid of it, surely it will be put to good use again at some point in my future. Best of luck with your new amp. Sorry for being late to the party.

Thanks wtf.  Yes, it really is a very good amp.  Wish I had more to spend but I don't.  Maybe in the future.  For now this one works just fine for me and with the preamp I have, I am able to use any of the components that I have with it.  At some point if I buy another tube amp I will be sure to get something with more power that can drive my Castle Conway 3 towers.  8 ohm with a sensitivity of around 89 I believe.  Not enough to sound right with the TubeCube7.

The "where I wound up so far" story: I became enamored of the sound of my Had amp used with a pair of new 93db Sonist Recital 3 speakers until I put my previous Silverline Preludes (supposedly 91db) back in the system just to see how they sounded with the SEP amp. Sold the Recitals as the Preludes sounded more to my tastes, and that got me thinking about efficiency generally which led me to a pair of Klipsch Heresy IIIs. The Heresy IIIs at 99db are perhaps the most efficient 3 way around without getting into large horn loaded boxes, and they are a surprisingly coherent and clear speaker. I say surprisingly because I assumed I was too hip for a silly Klipsch speaker that had been around in some form since the steam power era, and man...these things are great, but need a sub or two. 

Since when is 3.5 W @ 8 ohms, even tube watts, adequate for anything other than quiet background music or super-efficient horn speakers?

Well, efficiency is the key with low watt amps now isn't it. My Omega's are rated at 94.5 and I can assure you they most definitely play loud enough with just 2 watts.