My first tube integrated amp max $500 new/used

Double talk aside, define 'sounds quite good', please. Are you a connnoiseur of coloration too?

I find it amazing how amp mfgrs with high distortion figures often leave them out of their published specs. But those with low distortion always publish the results. Hmmm.

A more significant issue for a playback system than tubes is distortion, which tubes are nororious for having a high degrees of. Not that there are not some tube amps, usually triod, with low distortion, but they tend to be very low power, and very expensive. Like less than 20-30 watts, and well over a thousand $.

Where there are several relatively distortion free solid state amps ranging in price from $200 to $8k, which is a statement in itself. The THD spec for most popular, and expen$ive, tube amps is typially over 1-2%, or so high it is not shown in the specs at all. compared to the SS amps I refer to with a THD/IMD at <0.005%

Coupled with transparent speakrs, setup to get the most out of them in the room they operate in, gets you into 'true to the original' in playback such that you can listen for long periods without fatigue, and you will care less about the top end gear, cables and tweaks.

Those with that as a goal tend to end up with dipole systems: electrostatic, planner/ribbion, and open baffle dynamic driver designs.

As for bi-amping, another audio myth, the only value is if your amp is insufficient in power to meet the speaker manufacturer's recommended range. Otherwise, as in excesses of power, you only waste money that would be better directed toward those transparent speakers: a significant gain.

It is possible that myth results from merely imitating the hi-end systems using active crossovers, and multiple channels that may require multiple amps.

If you haVe the amps though, and need the power, then it is essential that they be equal in Gain, so that one does not play say the tweeter louder than the bass, thereby causing imbalance in the integration designed into the crossovers.

Tireguy:

I never said any different, except that I personally do not 'enjoy' distortion, even if described in poetic terms.

Also that I have searched for a low distortion tube amp that I would love to integrate into my system if I could find one with enough power to drive the main panels. But all I can find have distortion levels over the top of acceptability, usually 1-2% or more, and even at that typically over a frequency range of 20hz-20khz.

So, I use SS with THD/IMD at <0.005% over a 5hz-100hz frequency range, so as not to distort the music in order to gain some 'pleasent sounding' masking of the actual music.

But that is just me, apparently, and I am sticking to it.

Those who deny the obvious indication of the measured degree of distortion to the source signal by amplifying it sufficiently to operate a specific speaker driver, also claim that more important is how a component, or the system in total sound's to you, and usually use the term 'good', whatever that means. No one of them has been willing to define 'good'.

I have rather adopted the notion, 'true to the original', and evaluate components, and speaker setup, by the degree of realism in playback.

For instance, you can listen to the sourse material with reference earphones (Shure ER2, $100) and compare to what you hear in your room. It can be disappointing, but like Dr Phil says, 'you cannot change what you do not acknowledge'.

'Regrettably, much misinformation and outright nonsense have been spread to promote certain "high-end audio" products. The power of suggestion works exceedingly well, when listeners cannot trust their own hearing. I recommend to re-calibrate yourself frequently. Listen closely to all sorts of un-amplified sounds in order to recognize and remember natural aural patterns. It becomes an endless and futile pursuit to listen for and try to evaluate differences between speakers, equipment and accessories without a reality based mental reference.'

Like a mirrior is to Dracula, so the double blind test is to the 'connoisser of coloration'.

That is my position, and I am sticking to it.