Amp Upgrade Path?

Your speakers limit you to relatively high power tube amps that start to sound like ss amps....if you're thinking long term, you might start with speakers with 94 dB or higher sensitivity.  Tube amps especially sound best in the first watt.   I can drive my speakers as loud as anyone would want with a sophia Baby amp that weights 14 lbs and I would put up against most $10K amps.  In the tube world, keeping it simple can result in amazing sound.  You've gotten a lot of advice that is the standard route, often marked with cairns placed by dealers who want to sell you all of those components.  I can tell by your post that you're jumping on each trendy upgrade.  My advice is to stay away from trendy.  Primaluna is the hot topic now but it is just an above average Chinese amp.  Now Decware can back up it's demand with quality but your speakers limit you there.  Do your own research.  Transformers are one of the key elements of an awesome tube amp (sophia has great transformers, so I helped you some with your research).   Integrated isn't always bad and in fact, in tube amps integrated can be a very good thing.  many integrated tube amps have the simplest of preamps.  That's a recurring theme in my thoughts--simple = less manipulation of the signal = less degradation.  I think of a signal as coming from the DAC or TT as 100% and every tie a system touches it, it degrades it.  Your job is to design a system that degrades it the least.  Finally, research tubes before you commit.  SET vs push pull.  300b or some other tubes.  I'm using a 6c33c now but it gets pretty hot, but it has amazing detail.  You need to know what you're trying to accomplish before buying your next amp.

Jerry

@tweak1 so a guy asks for a tube amp suggestion and your suggest a 500 wpc class D amplifier--the opposite end of the spectrum?

Well that might go better with his inefficient speakers.  And I've heard there is a new class of Class D amps out there giving class A a run for their money, but I haven't heard any of them.  I guess this is one of them.  

So bottom line, especially since you say you've been down the tube path, I read your recommendation with interest. thanks.

Jerry

@carlsbad

I should have led with Ive owned quite few tube products, including an all tube system; Rogue M150s with both cryoed EL34s/6550s, Lector preamp with dif balanced outs, and Raysonic 168 dif balanced CD player (and a 228 that died right when the company disappeared), Accoustat 2+2s with upgraded servo amps, when Judd Barber (Joule Electra) was alive he sent me a small OTL stereo prototype to evaluate, NYAL 150 and 300, and several tube preamps whose names I have long ago forgotten

Having owned many class D amps; PS Audio GCC 250 (still in my TV rig), several W4S (stereo, mono, MC, Emerald Physics 100.2SEs, Audio Alchemy DPA 1, PS Audio M 700s, EVS 1200 which I raved about for over a year, until January of 2021 when my LSA Voyager 350 GaN amp arrived and stone cold blew away the EVS 1200. I have trouble including GaN in the same category as the non GaN class Ds as it is IMHO, on another level.

hth

   With your budget and speakers look at Quicksilver pre and their  KT monos. The pre will best your Rogue and their KT’s are now 100 watts. Rogue recommends rolling NOS Mullards in the small tubes. I much prefer Telefunkens and Siemens as they are considerably cleaner and more open. Your current KT 120’s are great for making power, however the new production Gold Lion KT 88 and KT 66’s are sweet. But for the long haul consider the Quicksilver gear or the new PL although it’s slightly over your budget. Happy Hunting, Mike B. 

Thanks everyone - food for thought