How to pick a tubed integrated without hearing one


I am taking the plunge into tubes. I do not see alot of manufactureres i am familiar with in the classifieds. How do i pick the right one ? I will be driving a small to medium sized bookshelf speaker . Probably a 8ohm model . My room is 11x14 .Should i only stick to names i have seen advertised in mags ? Will all of these have a similar sound/build quality.reliablity ? My budget will be around $1000 (used). Any info on these questions or on something i missed would be appreciated.
maplegrovemusic

Showing 1 response by mt10425

I use the Sophia Electric Baby that Br3098 mentioned. I run 92db towers in a room 17x30. Not a rock concert levels but loud enough that the conversation volume increases sometimes. Don't worry about the single set of inputs, I use a Kramer vs55se switcher for tuner, cd and phono preamp.