Is there any way to get into tubes for super cheap

Get an old Audio Research or Conrad Johnson tube preamp for 5 or 600 dollars. That's a great way to start. One thing you have to be careful of is to make sure there's no impedance mismatch once you start doing tubes. In this case you need to make sure the input impedance of your power amplifier is at least ten times what the output impedance of your preamp is. IE, if your preamps output impedance is 500 ohms then the power amp needs to have at least a 5000 ohm input impedance but more is better. In the case of Audio Research I know they sometimes recommend much more than ten times. Good Luck to you.

Check out Jolida. Reasonably price, great value.

Cheap tube preamps and CD players with tube output stages tend to be fine.

Cheap tube power amps, however, often have reliability problems, and because they use poor output transformers, cannot adequately power low impedence speakers (which is most speakers).

You make it sound like you are putting together a system for your prison cell. If you can up your budget a bit, you can get a respectable used preamp and amp here on Audiogon for +/-$750, small speakers for +/-$500, and a CD player and cabling for +/-$300. If you go much lower than that, you're buying either junk or something so old that you better know how to fix it.

Check for a Cayin TA-30 integrated. Should be around $5-600. Beautifully built little amp (35watts/channel).

Older ARC preamps (such as a SP3A-1) and power amps (such as a D-70MkII) can be had for roughtly $800 each (or possibly less) in good condition. They are excellent pieces of equipment even by today's standards for those prices. For less $ you could look at pretty much anything in the Dynaco line. Dynaco made a number of amps and preamps that you might consider; they also made some tube CD players (such as the CDV2) that occassionally can be found for about $500 or less which will pretty much blow away anything else you can find for the price. Beyond ARC and Dynaco, other less expensive vintage equipment is available - just search on eBay under "tube amplifier", etc to get a sense of what's out there. Once you home in on candidates, Agon and AudioAsylum should provide lots of input on specific models of interest. As with anything, there is a point at which the price will be attractive but the gear won't meet your expectations, so make sure you are as comfortable with the seller as you are enthusiastic about the piece of equipment.

A tube-based system is worth pursing - hifi without tubes wouldn't be quite as satisfying (just my opinion).

Also, (as you probably know) it's generally advisable to pick your speakers first, then find an amp that is suitable to drive the speakers, and then pick the preamp and CD or other components in a way that adds synergy. Tube equipment is somewhat different than solid state, but it's still part a system that needs to work together in your room.

It can be a blast and rewarding, or frustrating (if you are into it long enough, it's likely to be some of all that); do your homework, try to listen to the models you are interested (sometimes you can, but sometimes you have to go on recommendations), trust your instincts, and remember - it's often a journey rather than a destination.

Jolida integrated amps are not very expensive and are new. Unless you buy a very well taken care of "vintage" unit you may find yourself spending money to keep it functional. All of these things have parts with finite life spans. The Jolida integrateds are also very nice looking. As with all gear you are going to want to match the components carefully. A Jolida JD 202 with a pair of Kef speakers would be an affordable set-up that would work well. The Kef speakers are usually efficent (92dB or higher in most cases) and are not $$$.

Good luck!

I concur re Cayin, in fact for new gear I would suggest checking out Chinese tube gear generally. The value for dollar is high. HIT Audio, Shanling, Antique Sound Labs are more names that come to mind.

I really like the Jolida to start with but the other suggestions are good too. I started with the Jolida myself many years ago but be warned I predict you will move on to more expensive tube gear. Not because the Jolida is bad but because tubes are so good.

I'll throw in my 2 cents for the PrimaLuna Prologue 1. It is my first tube amp. My criteria were build quality, sound and ease of use. I have few precious seconds to myself with 2 small kids and I wanted something I could just turn on and play music. The P1 has exceeded all my expectations for a reasonable price.

Antique Sound Labs has the successor components to the old wave amps. Now, there up to 20 wpc as monoblocks with an accompanying pre-amp. The total cost for all three chassis is under around $700, I think.

Try this gentleman:

http://abraxasaudio.home.att.net/quicklist.html

Built to order, under $1000. Saw some of his work at the GPAF, I'm going to order one of the Akido 2A3's soon.

Plus, he and his wife are very cool!

Regards,

Lee

Thanks for the help.
I will start this of very slowly.

I bought a Conrad Johnson PV-5 with an ARC VT-60,after being away from tubes for 20 years and I'm glad I did.
I'm never turning back again,and I'm back into spinning LP's once more.Once u taste it your hooked!

Pathos or AES also very reasonable, and Wright Sound. Even audio experience. AES should give you a triode sound, where as Jolida's are class A/B minimax in their more reasonable incarnations.