Isn't the sttaf one of the warmer sounding speakers in the Totem line up...if it is then try it first with what you have at home and see how you get along with it.
If after some listening in your room you find it is sounds to thin (especially in the bass) and you would prefer something more lush sounding then, only at that point, would I consider tubes. The advantage with AudiogoN is that you could try it (used) and then resell if you found it was not an imprvement for your setup.
Most Tubes in your price range tend to add warmth and coloration primarily due to the output transformer coupling with the speaker impedance (forms a kind of filter or tone control) => this is excellent and often produces a highly desirable effect => you need to want or like this nice sound and there can be too much of a good thing so it will depend on the speaker and your tastes too. Furthermore, in your price range you will surely be lacking in power or oomph in a tube amp with this speaker.
The exception would be OTL Tube design of course (no transformer) => these will add no coloration at all and will be highly accurate (and very low distortion) but I doubt this would be anywhere close to your price range simply because of the amount of materials (parallel tubes) involved, which greatly adds to the cost.
If after some listening in your room you find it is sounds to thin (especially in the bass) and you would prefer something more lush sounding then, only at that point, would I consider tubes. The advantage with AudiogoN is that you could try it (used) and then resell if you found it was not an imprvement for your setup.
Most Tubes in your price range tend to add warmth and coloration primarily due to the output transformer coupling with the speaker impedance (forms a kind of filter or tone control) => this is excellent and often produces a highly desirable effect => you need to want or like this nice sound and there can be too much of a good thing so it will depend on the speaker and your tastes too. Furthermore, in your price range you will surely be lacking in power or oomph in a tube amp with this speaker.
The exception would be OTL Tube design of course (no transformer) => these will add no coloration at all and will be highly accurate (and very low distortion) but I doubt this would be anywhere close to your price range simply because of the amount of materials (parallel tubes) involved, which greatly adds to the cost.