Retirement integrated amp for a “fiscal conservative”

I’m currently using a Primaluna Dialogue HP Premium integrated amp which I’ve enjoyed for many years. Here’s where the “fiscal conservative” part comes in; this amp has 8 power tubes. Even with Primaluna’s great low tube stress design concept, I’m not looking forward to replacing power tubes every couple years with my retirement bonus listening time. Also, I’d like to get additional damping factor bass control than my current amp provides. I love the tube midrange and treble range sound, but would like an upright bass to sound more like a wood instrument (hard to describe in words) and hear more natural note attack and decay

The Yamaha A-S2200 ($4500) or the A-S3200 ($8000) are both tubey sounding SS (no tubes) amps with the higher damping factor, tubey midrange, etc, a nice step up from that primaluna. The Yamaha sound guys take a long time to try and make sure their stuff sounds as close as possible to the instruments they make. The sound of these amps changes significantly after about 120 to 150 hrs of burn-in (They don't ship from the factory burnt-in).

Sounds like you’re interested in a low maintenance solution, so reliability and servicability are important criteria along with sound quality. I’m not a huge fan of the esoteric cottage shop brands because of having tried to find service for exotic gear in the past. The words ’ephemeral businesses’ come to mind. It’s in the nature of the hobby, I suppose. My shortlist would include these three:

Luxman 505Z/507Z Heavily rooted in the analog world, the only real question is if the $3,000 value add is there on top of the $5995 price of the 505Z. Otherwise, they are impeccable sounding, fully featured and gorgeous. Still need a DAC/Streamer.

Mark Levinson 5805 on sale for $6500, is world class in every regard. Stereophile Class A rated and lacking nothing. 125/250 W/ch, massive power supply, MM/MC phono, great DAC, w/MQA, aptX Bluetooth, dedicated HP amp. It’s all there.

McIntosh MA-252. If you like the retro-MC-275 styling, and fancy a hybrid tube front end / 100W/Ch Class AB power amp with bulletproof build, here you go. Just bring your own DAC/streamer. At $4995 there would still be room in your budget.

Personally, the MA-252 puts a grin on my face, it’s just so 😎 cool. And the 505Z? Who ever really regretted buying a Luxman? But the Mark Levinson, though, is such a value, so complete an offering, I’d be hard pressed to walk away.

Find a used Luxman 509Z. I see them as low as $7500. I went through the "retirement gauntlet" over the past 2 years. I tried many integrated amps. Prices ranging from $4K to $20K. The 509Z was the best to my ears.

Tube replacement costs are simply a part of ownership of tubes. You have to weigh is it worth it to spend $8k on an unknown.

Tubes aren’t ultra expensive. So I don’t understand why anyone would consider giving up tubes for $500 every 3 years versus spending $8k on something else. So the cost of tubes is $150 every year. That’s a fiscally conservative cost in my book. What am I missing?

If you simply want something new I get wanting something else. But that doesn’t mean it will be better.

@re-lar-kvothe thank you and the many others who recommended the Luxman 507/509 integrated. Lots of love it seems for them. @ghdprentice I am curious why you sounded so down on Luxman when you posted your thoughts earlier?

@coltrane1 I hear you and your point. In this “last significant investment” in my system, I’m looking to improve the sound quality as I tried (hard to do with words) to explain in my original post. If I can get the SQ I “desire” with an integrated that doesn’t require multiple power tube replacements over the next 20 years I’m planning on living and enjoying music, then that’s a winner!