Build location for tube integrateds

Cary SLI80 (USA)
Jadis Orchestra Reference (France)
Manley Stingray (USA)
Rogue Cronus (USA)
VAC Avatar (USA)

All quite competent tube integrateds, in your price range, and recommended.

I guess the point I was trying to make above is that for those who need some sort of empirical evidence to justify their purchase, a tube amplifier isn't for them. I believe the reason being we do not yet know how to correlate a test to the phenomena of music.

Those who take measurements and make declarations based on them regardless of what is in front of them need to be assess what the definition of a scientist or engineer actually is. As an example, if everyone can see that grass is green with the eyes that God gave them, but it measures "pink" using a sacred colorimeter, who is right, those who feel the grass is green or pink?

The resurgence of tubes over the past generation (against all odds and their disadantages in terms of cost, weight, heat, efficiency, maintenance, lack of supply of good tubes, as well as "scientific evidence") can be explained by not much more than there are those willing to trust themselves over what we are consistently told we hear or do not hear.

Bottom line, I don't listen to square waves (or anything else of that ilk), I listen to music. And, because that is what I care about, I listen to music through tube amplifiers.

I'm going to step out on the ledge here, but that's life...

I don't believe in the "watts is watts" statement. Something else is at work here, which the majority of us (myself included) obviously do not yet understand.

Engineers/scientists love to hit us over the head with the measurements, saying, "Look, the meter says this. Therefore, it must be so..." However, I've seen enough examples of 12 wpc amps outmuscling 100 wpc amps that I now must look over the amp itself, as opposed to looking at the numbers, and then "listen".

Music is a dynamic phenomena, one that when factored into the uniqueness of the power demands of a loudspeaker (like a fingerprint), produce something far more complex than can be wholly represented by putting a 1 KHz test tone through an 8 ohm resistor, and making a value judgement on nothing more than that.

As far as the Manley goes, yes, EL84 amplifiers with its respective tube count tend to produce less real world power. That is true. However, for those who do not need the last word in power, EL84 amps also tend to produce incredible tonality.

In the end, what is and is not important to you must be factored into the equation when you move forward with your purchase. Beyond the lineage requirement for a North American or European tube integrated, I feel the products on the above lists are from good solid companies, meet your price requirements, are built well, and sound good.