The first tube amp I had was a Rogue Cronus Magnum +, which I bought 2nd hand. I was immediately hooked, and after I sold it to it's 3rd owner I received an email stating: "Love the sound, I am hooked on tubes!" The Rogue was running KT120 tubes.
The amp that replaced the Rogue cost many times more, and sounds it. It's an Ayon KT88-based integrated. It is an incredible sound with a pair of Avalon speakers.
After the Ayon was here for a year or so, I decided to replace my stereo in my home office from a solid state system to a tube system. I happened to meet the owner of Raven and loved the sound of the Blackheart LE which runs 6L6 tubes. This amp came home with me the first time I heard it.
What I can say is that tubes are an adventure, I love both the KT88 sound in the AYon as I do the very different 6L6 sound in the Raven. The Rogue amp had a time amount of noise in it, but it's KT120s also sounded wonderful to me. They are all quite different, but I like the differences -- I do know that many have their favorite tubes and sometimes like to "savage" the sound of tubes they don't like.
If I were starting out, I think I might buy a nice kit from bottlehead or that great British firm and build that... something to consider.
The amp that replaced the Rogue cost many times more, and sounds it. It's an Ayon KT88-based integrated. It is an incredible sound with a pair of Avalon speakers.
After the Ayon was here for a year or so, I decided to replace my stereo in my home office from a solid state system to a tube system. I happened to meet the owner of Raven and loved the sound of the Blackheart LE which runs 6L6 tubes. This amp came home with me the first time I heard it.
What I can say is that tubes are an adventure, I love both the KT88 sound in the AYon as I do the very different 6L6 sound in the Raven. The Rogue amp had a time amount of noise in it, but it's KT120s also sounded wonderful to me. They are all quite different, but I like the differences -- I do know that many have their favorite tubes and sometimes like to "savage" the sound of tubes they don't like.
If I were starting out, I think I might buy a nice kit from bottlehead or that great British firm and build that... something to consider.