I'm an ASL fan. I heard a Tulip 3.5 watt-per-channel on a pair of Oskar Heil "air-motion transformer" loudspeakers, and the sound stopped me in my tracks and forced me to listen for an hour. This happens about once every 5 years to me in high-end shops, where much of the equipment simply isn't musical. The Orchid is the integrated version, well under your budget, assuming your loudspeakers are sensitive as well as tube-friendly, or alternatively you have a small listening room. The bass was perfect (surprise, but bookshelf loudspeakers), and it was overall one of the five most perfect sounding systems I have ever heard. ASL make a large variety of tube integrateds
