Is it common for tubes to outweigh the cost of the amp or preamp?

@rodman99999  Thanks. I think I'll have saved in the end by going for the gusto from the start and nixing the upgrade bug. The worst is doing a moderate upgrade and feeling like you've sidestepped more than stepped up and just kind of wasted your money.

If it's within a comfortable budget and I know I'll most likely end up there anyway, might as well go big vs stepping up the tube upgrade ladder and spending money on tubes that'll be shelved long before their life is up. Like if I have superior tubes, I can't see myself being like "hey let's swap in those old tubes that don't sound as good for nostalgia sake."

I feel like I can consider my new tubes a good "reference" pair. They exceeded my expectations. Now I can get a cheaper pair and REALLY see/hear if they are just as good. I'm not sure that everybody who says the "holy grail" tubes are a waste of money have actually heard them because I am blown away. It curbed my craving to do a quick upgrade of the power tube right away at least.

@jtcf 

One way to save a few $$ is to buy ugly tubes and pairs and quads that were all manufactured the same but we're labeled for various companies

I was originally going to pick up 3-4 pairs of those to experiment with because they were so cheap. They were called "Butt Ugly Tubes!" on the site I was looking at. Unfortunately they were all out of stock.

@testpilot 

300B tubes can often exceed the cost of the amp.  

WOW! You aren't kidding. The manufacturer of my amp has a pair for $2k, FOR THE PAIR! Insanity. I'm feeling like I got off easy now.

Good to hear that you are enjoying your purchase.  At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

Thoroughly enjoyed. But now wondering what these tubes will cost in 2050. I've got another 40 years of listening left in me. Longer if I download my brain into a robot.