Recommendation Tube Integrated

The heart of my system has been the Raven Audio Integrated tube amp. Actually I don't know which Raven to call it any more due to my propensity to avail myself of every upgrade devised by those Raven techs. Got the new PC board, upgraded to toroidal transformers. etc. But each time the "realism" "clarity"  "transparency" would be enhanced. Funny thing is the original unit was like $2999 with tubes preinstalled. Just at that price point I dared to try the tube thang. My speakers are Klipsch Lascalas II which connect via Tellurium Q Black II. I run both vinyl and CDs depending on mood. For a first time tube adventure, Raven Audio is a great place to start due to their unheard of personal interaction with their customer base! The owner sells NOS tubes to the "Raven heads" and has sent me sample batches to see what works best. (Don't repeat that. its exclusive to "Raven heads") The amp has the remarkable human quality to its sound that shocked me (See reviewers who likewise were surprised) Happily it also has put up with alot of crazy novice errors. (Like running wrong tubes in wrong position, too much gain in preamp, operating without speakers being connected briefly) Very durable tank that purrs so sweet. "Tone" can be shifted with a simple rearranging of tube configuration. So fun. Since totally satisfied I have highly  recommended this integrated for years. 

You might want to look at the Line Magnetic integrateds. They are highly regarded and offer  high power for tube amps. I am familiar with the 805ia and it is a beast.

@decooney I am putting my fingers and my ears right now and repeating "Integrated should sound just as good....integrated should sound just as good!!" :-)

@gkr7007 I am decidedly not a tube roller - thanks for the reminder that is a thing.  The Pacific was recently upgraded to Engine 11 and had currently recommended tubes from factory, so I have not given that a thought.

I like my primaluna. Very good quality build. Built to last and sounds great. I compared it to ian ntrated system 3x it's cost. It really sounds great. It has auto-bias and protection for the amp built in. 

I owned a Raven Audio Osprey with best quality tubes and also Raven Audio Corvus speakers and was so happy with sound stage that it produced for 5 years.

But decided this year to step up to Raven Audio Reflection Amp .

A lot more money but they offered trade in on Osprey after 5 years and I had to at least see if my 73 yr old ears could hear that much difference...

At first I thought I made a big mistake but after the unit become broken in approx 6 weeks the sound stage is super wide and the instruments so much more punch and dramatic... But the cost was a hard sell but I am not sorry, for every time I play this Reflection and hear notes in music I have heard for years and never heard instruments and cymbals & drums like I do now...But the Osprey for  approx 6k is a Amp that made me happy for years and you get to try it for 45 days from Raven..

Wish you all good luck in your search for best sound stage you can afford.