Low Watt Solid State Amp


I am a tube guy.  Have been for the last 20 years.  I have various tube amps that I rotate depending on my mood.  More recently, I have had the urge to add a solid state amp to the rotation.  Looking for something clean, detailed, natural sounding that is in the neighborhood of 20 to 50 watts.  I use a deHavilland Ultraverve 3 preamp with relatively high efficiency Tonian Lab speakers.  Firstwatt comes to mind but is higher than I want to spend right now.  Budget is about $1,000.  Looking for a diamond in the rough kinda piece.  For example, one of the tube amps that puts a smile on my face every time I plug it in is my Dynaco ST-35 -- not a huge investment, but just always sounds right.  Any ideas are much appreciated.  Thanks
gotog
@charles1dad, I checked with Van Alstine, and Frank said about the first 10 watts are Class A.  Could be a nice match with my speakers which use Philips 9710 drivers, 95db, 8 ohm; generally listening at lower to moderate volume.
Hi gotog, 
Given your listening levels and the efficiency of the speakers you'll likely remain in the class A range 90 to 95 % of the time.
Charles 

I would second looking at class D amps, you can get a taste of them for very little money.

I have several based on the Texas Instruments TPA series chips.  I find they sound better than my low cost, low wattage tube amps.  I would suggest looking at amps with the TPA3250/TPA3255 or TPA3116/TPA3118 chips.  There are many boards you can buy to build your own.  There are also cheap and inexpensive pre-built versions.

For pre-built, take a look at the FX502SPRO, Allo Volt +D, or even the Nobsound dual TPA3116 for really cheap.

At that low of cost, it is worth give it a listen.  Enjoy!