Good Multi channel tube amp for $1000

You may be hard pressed to find a seven channel tube amp. I can think of few if any more than two channel tube amps.

I was afraid of that. I could use tube for the fronts and a multi channel SS foe the rest.

Butler Audio makes multichannel tube amps...your not going to find anything in your price range though. The only other I can think of is even more money than the Butler.

Dave

hello, you may want to consider Jolida. They make a three channel hybrid amplifier (1703) that can be mated with one of their two channel amps through the JD-50 (I think that's the correct product name) which basically acts as a remote control preamp with multi-amplifier home theater capability. A 1703, 1701, and JD-50 would probably be just above your price point if you could manage to buy at least one of your amps used. check the Jolida website for more info.

A $1000 dollars for anything decent with 7ch of power is a tall order. Even 5ch is tough to find anything in your budget.

Movies lean a lot on dynamic power and this is where tubes tend to struggle. Big tube amps do better, but that will be well beyond your budget.

If you want to play with tubes I would keep your Pioneer and buy a hybrid or all tube integrated and see how you like it.

I would not recommend mixing amps on your home theater rig. You want the same amps and speakers all the way around for the most seamless presentation. Buy a pre/processor with home theater pass-through and add a tube amp that you can switch wires on your front channels when you want tube sound.

Another idea is to find a manufacture that made/makes mini or mono amps that sound similar to bigger amps in their line. Buy the big one for L/R and the other amps for surround or center channel. This way you can build a system starting from stereo -> 3ch, 5ch & 7ch as budget allows for additional speakers and amps. The Jolida was a good suggestion. A solid state example; look for McCormack DNA series and add McCormack Micro Line Drive amps (switchable stereo or mono) for surround and center channel.