Looking for advice, recommendations

There very few sonic “bargain” audio components, but the Odyssey Khartago and the Amped America AMP240 SS high power $5k SS amps. The Odyssey ozone of the amps Alon Wolf of cutting edge speaker top of the market designer Magico. The Amp American does everything well even at the frequency extremes

I’m  not familiar with tube preamps in Your price range , but Rogue Audio and Audio by Van Alstine are high value companies that consistently offer products that punch above their price points.

Another option is to have a SS or tube preamp and a tube type warmth sounding GaN Fet type amp like from AGD, Peachtree, Atma-Sphere. GaN amps seem to consistently receive many raving reviews. GaN Amos have the midrange tube warmth, but unlike tubes it is efficient like a SS amp, reacts a lot faster than tubes, and is usually more articulate dynamically and may have better definition (more controlled) in the bass.

Before making changes, I would recommend Synergistic Research products which will make vast improvements to your equipment and room. It might sound so good that you don't need to make any equipment upgrades.

 

Thank you everyone for your recommendations. I think I will replace my output tubes first, probably with KT 88s or KT 66s.

You could do ^that^ and stop there?

Next step will probably be preamp. Power amps will come after that.

If you are doing the preamp then why even do the KT88 tubes?
Just use the funds from selling the integrated to move to a preamp and power amp.

The KT88 tubes are a dead end upgrade, unless you are open to the idea of stopping there. It the plan is to have more upgrades, then it is an illogical step and a waste of funds.. (But it seems pretty logical to just do that and stop).

The speakers I have are probably my end game speakers, at least until a have to move into an old folks home. Then I will downsize.

This is great - you one piece that is set in stone, and that defines what the power amp needs to do.

If the speakers were in question too, then that makes the problem have another degree of freedom and it becomes wildly complex.

@holmz 

i am thinking that the original tubes in my Primaluna Integrated amp may be approaching old age.  Changing the output tubes would be an interim step to restore some “life” in the system.  Changing preamp would be an incremental step to improving the resolving power of the system. I like to do the changes step my step to spread the $ out over time.

@holmz 

i am thinking that the original tubes in my Primaluna Integrated amp may be approaching old age.  Changing the output tubes would be an interim step to restore some “life” in the system.  Changing preamp would be an incremental step to improving the resolving power of the system. I like to do the changes step my step to spread the $ out over time.