Solid State Integrated in 1500- 1800 range ?

I have the Plinius 8200 and a good friend has the 8100(less power). My friend is driving Thiel 2-2's, the previous version of your speaker. Both of us agree that the Plinius sounds fantastic! My other buddy, the original owner of the Thiels, said they need a lot of power to make them really sing. If that is true, that would make the 8200 the obvious choice among the two (175 vs 100 watts).

Enjoy,

TIC

Magnum Dynalab MD308? New is high $2300 (100 watts/channel)
Perreaux E160i Integrated Amp $1800. (160 watts/channel)

Check out the Sim I-5 used. I've had one for about 6 mo's and while it's only rated at 70w/ch, it sounds much much bigger. I'm driving a pair of Hales Rev 3's and can't decide whether to keep the I-5 or a Llano S-100 (which is a great solid state amp.

The Pliunis 8100 is a great little integrated. It is based off the SA topography. It is a great sounding intergated amp coupled with dunlavy speakers.

I have owned the Simaudio Moon I-5 and Electrocompaniet ECI-3 and liked them both. Just as Woodman mentioned, the I-5 sounds stronger than 70wpc, but so does the ECI-3. However, I don't know how either would fair with planars. The I-5 has the more neutral presentation, and is also more transparent. The ECI-3 is a bit smoother. But I should add that they sound very similar, and this really surprised me. If you get a chance to audition the Electrocomapniet, try to listen to the ECI-4 which is their 120wpc integrated.

The market for integrateds has never been better. There are many many great amps out there. Enjoy!!