Excellent points! I went out of my way to design an amp that made the 6sn7 the star, and some pretty serious tube critics I know seem to think I succeeded. I will not mention any brands of tube amps but some of them might as well be solid state IMHO, they lack the tube sound I crave. I have plenty of 6sn7’s and my audiophile group has most anything I lack. I would enjoy seeing a list with prices if you want to pm me one, I can show it to friends.
Since I work in the field, I rarely pay much for any electronics myself or my investment pays dividends. I paid about $2,000 for my first computer but I took the monitor apart and studied the design and became the second person in Indiana to set up and do repair on them. I had as many as six techs and made a decent living for ten years. Another project paid my son $50 an hour when he was in his teens and paid for his college.