Budget vacuum tube preamp?


I got so many great responses on my last thread regarding when to go vacuum vs solid I figured I would post my follow up in a separate thread.

It seems the way to go for the amount of maintenance I am willing to do is a vacuum preamp with solid amps. I would like to have the HT bypass so I can use my HT receiver for multi ch. movie listening.

With that said, I don't want to spend a fortune but I want to hear the benefit of my purchase. Where to look for a entry level vacuum preamp and how much should I be prepared to spend?

Thx
kooshballa
Going with Unsound's questions, please list for us the input impedance and input sensitivity of your amp. If you don't know, tell us what amp you have so we can possibly look it up. Since we're on the subject, what's the output impedance of the component ABOVE the preamp (cd player or DAC)? Not to confuse you more but maybe a passive preamp will work for you. There are many to choose from, and some VERY cheap! Since it's passive, if the output voltage of your cd player or dac is at least as much as the input voltage sensitivity of your amp, you will have enough voltage to drive the amp to full power.
At this point I do not yet have an amp either...my whole setup is being driven by an Integra DTR 40.1 receiver which is not bad, but i feel can get much better for a reasonable price if I know what to look for.

Perhaps the better question after reading all the great responses would be to define a preamp / amp combo to get me started.
I would suggest matching your speakers to an appropriate amp, before deciding an an appropriate pre for your amp!
I agree. IMO, amplifer/speaker matching is the most important part of an audio system.
True...if you have a zebra striped amp, you gotta have zebra striped speakers.