I have used in-line attenuators, as Jncgrogan2 suggested above, and they do work well. For some reason, that I cannot recall, the recommended location of attenuators is on the input side of the linestage rather than the outputs. I used the attenuators on the output because I did not buy the three sets I would have needed for inputs.
An Audionote M-6 is sort of overkill for $3,000 amps, unless they are interim items in a planned upgrade. I have heard various versions of Sophia amps (cannot recall the model) and they have all sounded decent for the money. The issue with that company is quality control and the owners penchant for constantly substituting parts and being a somewhat flaky person to deal with (I live close by, and when buying a set of tubes he insisted that I meet his wife in the parking lot of a nearby McDonalds; I would be recognized by the model of car I drove, and his wife would flash her headlights three times. I was afraid the cops would think a drug deal was going down).
I heard a Decware amp recently and thought it was extremely bad sounding--muddled, utterly lacking in bass and bass control and lifeless. It was hastily installed in a system merely to check out if it was operational, so I cannot say how it would sound under ideal conditions. But, I was not encouraged by what I heard and suspect that they may be something that is excessively hyped on the internet.
For lower cost tube gear, I like the pushpull amps from Synthesis Audio. Most of their amps are integrated amps, but, I believe they have an EL34 amp and a 300b amp near your price range.
An Audionote M-6 is sort of overkill for $3,000 amps, unless they are interim items in a planned upgrade. I have heard various versions of Sophia amps (cannot recall the model) and they have all sounded decent for the money. The issue with that company is quality control and the owners penchant for constantly substituting parts and being a somewhat flaky person to deal with (I live close by, and when buying a set of tubes he insisted that I meet his wife in the parking lot of a nearby McDonalds; I would be recognized by the model of car I drove, and his wife would flash her headlights three times. I was afraid the cops would think a drug deal was going down).
I heard a Decware amp recently and thought it was extremely bad sounding--muddled, utterly lacking in bass and bass control and lifeless. It was hastily installed in a system merely to check out if it was operational, so I cannot say how it would sound under ideal conditions. But, I was not encouraged by what I heard and suspect that they may be something that is excessively hyped on the internet.
For lower cost tube gear, I like the pushpull amps from Synthesis Audio. Most of their amps are integrated amps, but, I believe they have an EL34 amp and a 300b amp near your price range.