Vintage vs. New Tube Amps

Being a vintage collector, vintage amps( RCV, etc) are certainly worth it. Tuners/Receivers are particularly great in vint gear. Just get someone knowledgable to either restore , update or mod it. No brainer considering the cost of new. Then you can consider a refurbished vint "NEW"! Good luck- I love those tone controls!!

you didn't mention your budget. the dynaco ST-70 is good - in the mids especially - and is easily worked on if necessary. you can find them just about any day of the week, frequently for cheap. you can then get a more modern tube pre (like an early Audible Illusions) for a few hundred, getting yourself a nice tube pre/power for under a grand

you can find integrateds (Scott, Fisher) for a lot less than that but if you don't know a friendly and cheap tech who can work on these things, they might end up costing you a ton in repairs. that being said, the old integrateds can sound great - and you even get to play with "filters" and bass/treble controls (so un-audiophile!)

Thanks very much for all of your responses. Another concern I have is about tube biasing. The output tubes in the Scott require biasing. Is this something your average Joe, meaning a person without technical ability, can easily do?

I was a Scott collector at one time and had almost the whole range, was just short a few pieces. I was also into vintage for a long time. I have come to the conclusion for my ears that most (not all) vintage pieces are just not up to snuff with the stuff around today. (Vintage meaning Scott, Eico, etc, not ARC, CJ which I still beleive some (not all) of the older pieces are still up there in sound quality). I say that, but it all depends on the sound you are looking for and what you will listen too. In stock form, I didnt like most vintage amps. I had a famed Marantz 8b and it didnt really do it for my, I liked a rebuilt (new caps only) Dynaco ST70 and ST35 much better. Dont flame me, just my preference to my ears. I used to hate 6550 amps as bright or missing magic. But I now have Cary SLM200 which use 6550 and they are awesome.
This is my opinion, with the price of some used modern equipment costing equal or less to some vintage pieces, modern is the way to go.
Good luck with your decision.

Thanks to everyone for your responses. Since I have a better idea about what vintage gear is available, it would be great if people could suggest some new gear, a tube integrated with a maximum cost of $1000 used.

I hear good things about the Cayin TA-30, Prima Luna, Pathos, etc.? What do you folks think?