The Devil said:

http://www.tubebuilder.com/images/sc...eamps/5687.gif

Won't cost much. Most of the money goes into the power supply. If you
find you don't like the circuit, the power supply will still be good
for many other circuits, leaving you free to try something else for
very little outlay.

On the subject of power supplies, don't listen to what anyone else
says: you need *valve* rectifiers. :-) Silicon diodes with snubbers
and schottky types just aren't as good. And use choke regulation.
Under no circumstances use SS or valve regulation circuits. They're
horrible to music.

I would stick with the passive controller between CD player and amp.

Aim for an amp that puts out around 35-40 watts class A per channel,
something that uses 6550s, KT88s, KT90s, or KT100s. The output valves
need to be operated as triodes (thanks Sander!) for the very best
sound quality, but whatever circuit / kit you choose, we can look at
that and help you to make the conversion if it's designed for
ultralinear operation.

It may be worth just finding a good circuit online and then sourcing
the components yourself. Do not skimp on output transformers, and if
you can, budget for Black Gate decoupling and power supply capacitors
and Jensen coupling capacitors. It's best to put them in straight
away, rather than upgrade later, as they tend to need a lot more space
than lesser alternatives.

Why must you always butt in with excellent comments that I forget to
give?

--
Sander deWaal
"SOA of a KT88? Sufficient."