My first tube amp! HELP PLEASE!

I haven't surveyed the whole market, but some good, high quality, ones I've used are older conrad-johnson (mv-50), Sonic Frontiers (SFS-40 or SFS-50), and Assemblage (DIY from sonic frontiers). In the smaller wattage versions, you should be able to find something in your range.

If you are interested in a single source system a used Rogue 88 with EVS Ultimate Nude attenuators would cost roughly $1,100 and would probably be phenomenal. My brother has the Rogue but I have not heard the Nude attenuators. Check out the EVS site at www.tweakaudio.com. The Rogue 88 is very impressive.

How about an Audio Research VT-60-upgraded to MK II status just last summer by the factory. $1100.00. All new tubes, plus the upgraded curcuitry.

What will work best will be highly dependent on your loudspeakers. You may also need to change your speaker cables to something more revealing. My first all tube amps were a pair of used Quicksilvers. If these are in your price range, they are worth auditioning. Older ones are biased high and could require frequent output tube changes. They are a little sluggish in the bass and a little rolled on top, but when properly interfaced, their midrange has few peers.

Audio Note has a nice integrated amp...P2 soro, I think....pure class A/direct heated pentode/18 watts...dual rca outs for biamping....available as line or phono...I have the p2se amp..it is wonderful and powers my linn speakers plenty loud and controls the bass very well. The amp is used in my home theatre system for the front stereo speakers.