Help with a first tube amp Please

second on the rogue cronus - amazingly good for the $, esp. if you can find one used

OP's price reange was $1000.00, you can't get a VTL IT-85 for that price. I have to admit it will smoke the just about any Jolida. I have the IT-85 (with upgrades caps) in my bedroom set-up. The Will Vincent Dynacos are also very nice but not intergrated amps. I owned Will's MKIII mono blocks for a while as well.

Exercise care in your choice of tubes the amp uses. Power tubes can have very different sonic characteristics.

I love tubes but am not a fan of EL-34's. For all the lush midrange I find flabby bass and rolled off highs. My preference in push-pull amps is KT88/6550/KT 90 because of the better dynamic range and better handling of the music I prefer despite giving up some midrange sweetness. For mid-range the 300B tube is my favorite, for low power with better dynamics EL84- but regardless of what I like it is in the ear of the listener. So try before you buy.

Do some online research in tube sonics to get an idea of power tube differences. Ask yourself what you listen to - hard rock, jazz, orchestral, choral, vocal harmony etc. and seek amps that use tubes suited to that music.

I finally found the Atma-sphere M60.III monoblocks using a 6AS7 power tube after trying all the above noted tubes. I have never missed the other amps.

Entrope offers some very good advice and brings out a very interesting point, our hobby is very subjective.

I have to laugh about EL34 being light on bass and rolled off on the high's. This where it starts getting complicated; not all tubes are created equally. I use New Old Stock (NOS) Mullard tubes from the 1960’s & 70’s. They have plenty of bass control and impact as well as crisp highs (in my amps), but they cost more than my amps. Having used 6550, KT88, KT90’s (in various amps) and keep coming back to the Mullards.

I don't think you can get a better recommendation that Grinnell's for not only an introduction to tubes in an integrated, but just maybe an endgame - which of the three? Ask 3 people they will give you 3 answers.