how would an entry-level tube system compare?

Defiant, you do not need high sensitivity speakers with tube amps, at least not high quality tube amps. The 2 that come to my mind are Jadis and Cayin. i have the smallest of the Jadis' a 40 watt!!! , the Orch Reference, has 4 KT 90's driving the hefty and very low sensitivity Seas' rated at 87/86 db,. I guess you could say power hungry but the Jadis drives them with ease. Other labs in that size tube amp will not match, the Jadis is famous for its well constructed and its stamina/power. The Cayin A88 will drive the Tyler's Big is mentioning. But I would not go above his MTM(Monitors, with 7inch/tweet/7 inch) or 3 way(8 inch, 7inch, tweet) model. Sure its a hefty demanding dribver, but the Cayin, from what I read is up to the task. There are a few tubes amps that are best/only for high sensitivity speakers, the famous 300B tube is one. But don't worry about that right now, thats for another topic.
I should say with hesitation that the Cayin A88 has the KT88 tube and my Jadis has the KT90 tube. In tubes numbers mean alot. I'm thinking the 90 delivers more bass, sweeter highs. The 88 is a shorter tube and is better in mids. If that is so, then the A88 will not work with Tyler.
I bought a quad of 88's for my Jadis, and they sounded like c**p. But they were not Jadis 88's , but a cheap brand. So I do not know what the deal is. What I really need to do is get my hands on the A88, ASAP.
September, maybe August.
Used sometimes for 1K, keep eye open they go fast. I can get one from Hong Kong as well.
Paul
Paul

I have a Tube Audio esign-60 with a pair of Vandersteen 2CE signatures. Room size about 12 X 15. Efficiency around 86DB. Using Tung Sol 6550s it can get loud. I listen to classic rock like Aerosmith and Eagles. If you need more power might want to check out the TAD-1000 monoblocks. See the reviews.

I can definitley get satisfying rock solid bass from my set up...

Eagleman

I have successfully mated the Sound Quest SQ-88 amplifier (55 watts using 2 KT-88 tubes per channel) with the Von Schweikert VR-4jr (89 dB) and the AAD 2003 (88 dB) among other speakers. The KT-88 tube has great bass control. The combinations above play driving rock music into my approx 20x26 room at house shaking levels. So, in my experience, ~50 KT-88 tube watts is more than adequate for your application even with speakers below 90 dB efficiency.

In addition to the makes you are looking at, appropriate Consonance gear can be found used in your price range. There is a Consonance Reference 880 integrated amp listed right now on Agon at a great price (less than $1000 ... I have no affiliation with the seller). The 880 uses 4 tubes per side producing 70 watts per channel. Put some JJ blue KT-88s in that thing and let 'er rip!! (I wish someone would buy it so I am no longer tempted.)

Enjoy!
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Did you get an amp?
I had a thought: A hybrid amp.
This would have a tube front end and solid state output.
The small tubes look cool, you can tube roll, it will take some edge off the music and play loud as hell!
All that comes to my mind right now is Moscode but plenty of others are out there. The moscode is/was 300 watts with tube gain.