Looking to get into tubes?

Spindrifter You have been at this since the early 60's.
If your ears survived Solid State from then till now I would hesitate to change.While I love tubes it's going to be difficult to do it on your given budget.SS has taken GIANT leaps forward over the years and although I cant make any recommendations for your new Amp I do tend to agree with some of the other posters to stay with Solid State.
Best of luck

Look for a resale unit in the Cayin or VAS line. Great sound, initial value and resale value, not to mention great service if you need it.

IF its in your head and wont go away I feel it too.I was wanting a CJ MV 60,maybe MV55 for reliability,customer service and quality EL34 tubes are available everywhere.I was thinking around 1200$ or so.Wasnt going to spend only 6-700$ at this point[aggravations mon].Good luck.Summers coming,ever buy a motorcycle?

I have to disagree with some of the above posts. I too had been listening to SS since the 60's. A couple of years ago I switched to tubes and couldn't be happier. Go for it!!!

I'm 58, started with tubes at age 16, went SS later but was never really happy. Now I have tubes again and I love them. I think the Rogue Cronus is a good suggestion and so is the Audio Space AS-3i. Both unfortunately near the top end of your budget if you can find them used.

Another good brand which was marketed for a while here in Canada is Passion Audio. The i-11 model is a bit better-sounding than the i-10 and should still be close to the low end of your budget. These amps were produced by Antique Sound Labs and voilà, that's another brand you might consider and a little easier to find.

Remember the output transformer is the key to sound quality in a tube amp. I recommend the Audio Space and Passion units for that reason. I have heard the Cronus briefly at a show and liked it but I didn't get to ask about it.