Good budget tube amp?

Hey guys, I really appreciate all the time you put into your responses. I am going to spend some time later today going over them in depth. So far, I really like what I'm reading. The idea of putting my own tube amp together is exciting, from both a performance point of view and an economic one. It would also be a good educational experience for me since I know very little about tubes (even though I'm an engineering student and an audiophile). I also understand that there may still be good deals out there that are better than anything i can put together, so I will definitely do my homework in that regard. I will probably have more to say after I'm finished going over all your responses in depth and googling everything I don't yet understand. Thanks again.

Hi there,
There are a few good ones for around your price range.
My first choice is Vista Audio i34. EL-34 tubes. (Those tubes are some of the best) $980. The cool thing about this amp is that it is made in Serbia by a Serbian designer. Everything else in this price range is made in China. It has some great reviews and there is a 30 day trial period.
Another one you can try is from Jolida. The Jolida 202BRC $839 or the 302BRC around $1100.
If you can stretch your budget there is always the American made Rouge Cronus for $1800. Another interesting and well made amp for $1500 is from Antique Sound Labs. The AQ1003 Mark 2.
I have a Granite Audio 834 integrated. $2400 new. American made. Digital bias meter built in, that really helps. Had it for 2 years now and thinking of selling it soon to try a Mastersound Due Venti $3000. The Granite is the best amp out of all of my suggestions. It even sounded better to me than the VTL-i85 I had before it and that is saying something. I am hoping the Mastersound will be better than the Granite. Always trying something new :)
I personally do not think your Totems are a good match at all for tube amps. I would hook any of these up to a pair of Vandersteen 1C's or Zu Audio or even Proac speakers and be in musical bliss. I hope this helps. Once you go tubes it's hard to go back to solid state. Tubes rock.

From Canada,

http://www.idealinnovations.biz/

Ditto, Mezzanine, on the loudspeakers! As to these specific suggestions: If you get the ProAcs or Vandys at the right price, you shouldn't have any problem at all reselling, if for some reason they don't suit your own situation. For Zu, please do read the Audiogon forum responses thoroughly -- there are many close observations on their sonic characteristics, plus useful comparisons here.

You may also find that more sensitive, tube-friendly loudspeakers "wake up" at lower a volume and have a bit more life at civilized levels. For me personally, I tend to have little interest in models that won't show well with something like 9-10 watts Class A EL-84 power, even if you don't go there amp-wise for your own circumstances. There are exceptions, of course.

And don't overlook the fact that Paul Speltz's 'Zero Autoformers' will let you optimize the power output of tube amps of modest power, or the First Watt amps for that matter, into loudspeakers having an impedance minimum right there in the midrange where you may need EFFECTIVE power the most! They are not just for the OTL guys -- see Paul's website for plenty more on this. I keep a set of these around for exactly that reason. A First watt J2, being one example many may not have considered in this respect, should simply put more watts into typical examples of these loudspeakers, according to the math. This is because you are current limited -- it's similar with small tube amps which are not optimized for low-distortion power into low impedances, like some of the small Decware amps are. Nelson implies -- you may know how the Zenmaster operates with respect to pronouncements of opinion -- in a recent addition to the website something to this effect.

Just throwing in my 2 cents on the speaker question, might I add Tekton speakers, perhaps the Lore or even the Pendragon?