My first tube integrated amp max $500 new/used

Ahh....if it were only so easy. Time and again psychoacoustic tests have shown, beginning with the pioneering work of Jean Hiraga in France, that it is not simply the sum of the distortion products that matters but the actual spectrum of the distortion products. Tube amps, generally speaking, have distortion products that diminish as the harmonics increase. This has been shown to be percieved by most listeners as consonant with the fabric of the music. Solid state amps tend to be all over the board, some with increasing percentages of higher order distortions and some less so. By all means, explore solid-state, but not on the grounds of the sum of the harmonic distortion products being low.

And to answer your question, the Anthem Integrated 1 is a really well built tube amp, limited by the 25 wpc output and some plumbiness in the bass. The Jolida amps will put out a bit more juice and sound quite good as well, try a 302. They are not as well built, but output power may play a role here. Happy looking.
Marty

What kind of amp do you have now? If it is any good, you might be better off adding a tube pre-amp - allowing you to have the nice sound of tubes and still retain some power. You could always upgrade to a better (tube, or not) amp later.

If you get a tube integrated amp for the amount of money you wish to spend, it will likely be a hybrid anyway (tube pre-amp, ss power amp).

Regardless, remember that, if you do get a tube amp, 25wpc of tube power will function pretty much like 50wpc of solid state power.

Good Luck,

Double talk aside, define 'sounds quite good', please. Are you a connnoiseur of coloration too?

I find it amazing how amp mfgrs with high distortion figures often leave them out of their published specs. But those with low distortion always publish the results. Hmmm.

A modified Jolida MD102B uses EL84 tubes and is a wonderful unit for the price point. I was quoted 535 plus shipping for a new modified unit. The stock tubes will suffice unit you can afford better NOS tubes. This is a good product with full range sound for under 600 landed.

The ad is misleading as the price listed appears to be for an unmodified unit. I asked and after a few emails it was clear that 535 is the bottom line; not bad for a sweet tubed integrated new with warranty!

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ddampstube&1099785001

I would take this unit over the other Jolida (202, 302) integrated any day.

Nscercs- Cheerfully ignore didactially's posts, search his other threads here and you'll see why I say this. I only mention it because you seem new here and I don't want you to become misguided by, for lack of a better word, a fool. Enjoy entering the world of tubes, they do offer something very enjoyable to music that SS amps simply can not do.