Dac help

[E-Stat]

However I would be very receptive to recommendations for very moderately priced tube gear that lacks added warmth or fake ambiance but does have those other qualities.

Therein lies the rub. Neutral sounding tube gear requires stiff and low noise power supplies along with high quality passive parts - especially the coupling caps. The progression of linearity from electrolytics-->mylar-->polypropylene-->polystyrene-->teflon has involved some expense. Your best bet would likely be used ARC stuff - which is the way I bought my preamp years ago. 'Agon, for example, has a couple of examples for around $1400 - an LS16 and SP16L.

On the other hand - like you, I don't use a preamp/line stage with digital sources since my source and amp are passive friendly and I am firmly in the minimalist camp. That might be different if I were to use a great SS amp like a Pass Labs or Bryston 28 because of their low input impedance and lower sensitivity. The only reason I keep mine (in both music systems) is for listening to vinyl.

I suspect that "traditionalist" tube lovers would find my systems too cold.