Diving into the world of tubes...help needed!

Brandon, I was somewhat in your shoes 15 years ago. I decided to leap into tubes as well. I elected to keep my ss amp(an Adcom 555ii and added a tube PreAmp. I chose a used Audible Illusions line stage. Wow! What a difference!  I enjoyed the AI for ~10 years then added a tube amp, a Conrad-Johnson Premier 11a. It was an improvement, but not as much as the preamp. I think the preamp is where you get the ‘tube’ sound! There are a lot of used tube preamps on the market. People have mentioned several. I admit I’m partial to Audible Illusions, it’s an old brand, but with a good rep.

Hey jetter...yeah, the Aegir has tempered my desire for an XA25 for now anyway. The Aegir (I've had it for only a couple of days after having to send the first one back...input sensitivity issues...Schiit payed for all the shipping of course and could not have been nicer) is the most astonishing SS amp I've heard in my or anybody else's system. It's a great sounding late night "low volume" amp, and it has a mesmerizing sound that seems to dig deep into whatever you're listening to at any volume. For what they sell these things for it was very hard to resist trying the thing and man...what an amp...

@rongold Glad to hear about your experience! :)  I think as people have said, I should upgrade speakers first, THEN find an amp. I guess I'll do that...