Tube sites/books, recommendations please

You could check out Vacuum Tube Valley. I believe they've been out of print since 2004 or so, but tubedepot.com has the back issues for sale. It's a nice resource. Most of the books that I know/have are for amplifier design.

Lensteve - what's the rest of your setup like? (Sources, power amp, speakers, cables, room dimensions, etc.)

Also a note on McIntosh - While I like their products and believe they're built extremely well, it's next to impossible to find a truly good deal on anything they've made. I wouldn't try to build the entire setup around McIntosh gear unless you can just throw around thousands like it's pocket change. A good idea would be to try to find someone in your area who's got a tubed setup and get to know them. Out of my tiny audiophile circle, I'm the only "tube guy", but my dad had tons of Mc, CJ, Fisher, Dynaco, and some older Citation amps.

You can probably get plenty of juice from a ~35 wpc tube amp. I still suggest getting used to the MC2255 and find some nearby audiophiles to let you check out other pre's in the meantime. How do you like the Triton Two's? I auditioned them a while back and was underwhelmed, but my dealer didn't take much time setting them up and I'd just finished listening to Magnepan 3.7's. I kinda think the setup and quick switch didn't do them justice.