Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice

While cost is not necessarily a quality gauge, with $6,500 list in my digital and less than a $1,000 list in the analog; I keep thinking real improvement is going to require a better table and cartridge.

I had what I thought was a really nice digital front end. Very happy with it. Until I got the idea to drag out my 30 year old Technics to compare, just for kicks. The cantilever on the Stanton 681EEE had somehow gotten bent. Pliers bent it fairly straight looking enough without breaking, this is just for fun anyway, oh wait I need a phono stage, drag out an even older Kenwood integrated (back in the 70's they all had phono stages built in) and fired it up. Holy crap. What the.... was still playing records when the wife came home. That sounds really good, what is it? Tom Petty. No I mean what, it sounds so good! (She couldn't see the turntable, assumed it was some kind of special CD.) Its a record. Dang! Well it sounds really good!  

If your $1k table isn't kicking butt on your DAC its not the table. Its the setup, or your choices (AT? Really?). 

Get some Nobsound springs ($30) adjust so its almost fully compressed using the least amount of springs you can. This will improve bottom end while taming the top end, and you will be able to fine tune and tailor the amount by adding springs or weight. Less springs/more weight more bottom end/less top end. And vice versa.

Then when you go shopping for a better table skip everything that uses an interconnect. Interconnects on phono adds a whole bunch of connections, each one harmful to the delicate phono cartridge signal. Interconnects introduce noise, distortion, and expense. Stick with arms with hard wired phono leads. Better sound, less money.

My expectation is that a tube amp will improve the imaging, layered sound stage, and sense of aliveness I think I hear when the treble gets better detail without sibilance.

Right. Should be fine. Only slight concern is when you say the McCormack RLD is too polite. Never heard that one myself. Had a DNA1, beautiful sounding amp. Very, very close to the Aronov and Melody tube integrateds. Very close in sound, very close in perceived power. Which there's the 150W SS to 50W tube equivalence thing. But in terms of sound, if you like the DNA and just want a little better imaging, layering and palpable presence, you should be able to find that with tubes. Any of the amps people are recommending should do that easily. 

Improved treble detail without sibilance is a sort of hallmark of tubes vs SS. The better tube amps provide extended treble that can seem downright liquid. The last guy to hear my system was into digital and while he was here kept thinking my system should be more cold and analytical. Only find himself yearning for that nice full round warm sound that was missing when he got home. So there's something about it that wins over even those who aren't naturally inclined. Seeing how this is already the direction you want to go its a safe bet you will find what you are looking for.

EL34 are a bit warmer than KT88, which are very slightly warmer than 6550C. But these are gross generalizations, and its a mistake to focus on the tubes. In reality the transformers are equally as important, as are the quality of caps, power supply diodes, and the overall quality of construction. In other words tube amps are just like everything else. To focus on the tubes without considering transformers is as bad as to focus on the drivers while ignoring the speaker cabinet.

Honestly, I know you want a tube amp but my advice is forget that until you're into some more tube-friendly speakers. 90dB can work, 95dB is a lot better, and 98 or more is beautiful. Because while tube watts are greater than solid state watts still you are much, much more likely to find a really good sounding tube amp in the 50-60 watts or under than 100 watts or greater.

Realize that because dB is logarithmic doubling power from 50 to 100 only gives you 3dB. My last speakers Talon Khorus at 90 dB were pushing my 50 and 60 watt tube amps hard when playing loud. But if I were to go to a 100 watt or greater amp it wouldn't be worth it for all that money (and long term tube expense) for just 3dB. You're 2dB less. You are screwed. No one else here will tell you this cold hard reality.  

With speakers 95dB or greater though, now you can take your pick of really great amps that will absolutely kill anything SS and play nice and loud, and with even better bass. You experience this you will forevermore roll your eyes at all the rubes mindlessly repeating the SS bass mantra. Right. As if.

So speakers first, then amp.