The effect of valve amps is subtle, not the transformation you might be led to expect. With my first one (obscure French built 60wpc power amp - bought for £600, original purchase price £5k - they depreciate like nothing else) the initial impression was that it seemed cleaner, more transparent and more detailed than its predecessor but that was because it was a leap in quality. The spacious 3D juicy thing didn’t really come about until I upgraded the rest of my kit to a quality that would resolve it.
So yes there’s a few integrated valve amps on eBay at that budget right now but there might not be a massive improvement, although it’s worth getting something future proof for when/if you upgrade your cartridge, phono stage etc.
The effect of valve amps is subtle, not the transformation you might be led to expect. With my first one (obscure French built 60wpc power amp - bought for £600, original purchase price £5k - they depreciate like nothing else) the initial impression was that it seemed cleaner, more transparent and more detailed than its predecessor but that was because it was a leap in quality. The spacious 3D juicy thing didn’t really come about until I upgraded the rest of my kit to a quality that would resolve it.
So yes there’s a few integrated valve amps on eBay at that budget right now but there might not be a massive improvement, although it’s worth getting something future proof for when/if you upgrade your cartridge, phono stage etc.