I started a similar thread a few months back.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/amp-sa5000-321919/
Like you, I was originally avoiding tubes. But then I had a tube amp on loan for a while and found it to synergize with the SA500 very well. The details and the highs were preserved but the overall sound became more balanced. I no longer was fatigued by the analytical sound and the headphone was much more musical.
Unfortunately, that was a prototype of the Triad Audio Valvecode, an expensive amp that will be out of my budget when it is released. I decided to start at the budget end of things and recently purchased a Little Dot MVIII. So far the LD doesn't compare to the Valvecode but I have less than 20 hours on the amp so far. I'm giving the amp the benefit of the doubt in terms of burn-in, on both the amp and the stock tubes. I did notice a marked improvement in sound after the first hour of listening. Since then the sound has been pretty much the same. However, other users have reported a better sound after 75 hours of use.
In terms of the difference in sound between the low end and high end amp, I found the detail, clarity and dynamics to be better with the Valvecode. I would say the Little Dot may push the SA5000 a little bit too much toward the warm end of things but as I say it's early going.
As far as not wanting to deal with tubes, I was concerned about the equipment being too delicate, warm up time, the amp getting too hot, tube rolling and just a general fear of the unknown. After some time with tubes my thinking has changed.
Any decently built tube amp is not going to be any more fragile than solid state, except for the tubes themselves. However, I think of them as I do lightbulbs. Sure they're delicate and will break if mishandled but once they're in the socket you don't need to handle them.
Although many people say they warm up their tube amps for 20 minutes before listening, I really don't think that's necessary. 2 minutes after I turn on the amp, enjoyable music is streaming into my ears. Sometimes after listening for a while I think that the amp sounds particularly good but that may have to do with multiple factors. Certainly, it's not like the amp is unlistenable when it's cold.
Tube amps do generally tend to get a bit hotter than solid state but not so much so that they are hot to the touch or can't be handled. That is of course except for the tubes themselves. I have my amp in a place where the kids will never get at it and have no pets. I also know not to touch the tubes when they're glowing and avoid touching them directly as much as possible warm or cold. I still am a bit cautious so I won't leave my amp on unattended for extended periods. My listening sessions usually last 2 to 3 hours and in that time I haven't found heat to be an issue.
With most tube amps, tube rolling isn't necessary. Sure at some point your tubes will burn out but I think you can probably get 1000s of hours out of a set of tubes before they go. Most of the tube amps available have decent tubes already installed. If you want to roll tubes, that's always an option but certainly not mandatory. I find it's difficult to compare tubes anyway. You can't really A/B them on the spot since the amp has to be powered down and the tubes allowed to cool before you can switch them out. Sure there are differences between tubes but probably not as great as you may think. This is of course dependent upon which tubes you use in which amps. But look at tube rolling as a benefit and not a liability.
I've conquered my fear of tubes and while the Little Dot certainly isn't the best tube amp out there, it's cheap enough that I can get my feet wet and have a baseline to compare new tube amps as I acquire them. (At Head-Fi it's a matter of when you get a new amp, not if.)
Anyway, that is probably more on tubes than you wanted to read, but go through my older thread as it has a few solid state recommendations as well.
