budget amplification - what to get?

Do some research into the Acurus DIA line.The Audiophile world often eschews active pre-amps in favor of passive line controllers (pre-amps) to avoidcolloring the sound.The problem with this has been that the output voltage of line level sources (CD's,Tuners,etc everything other than Turntables which require a step up anyway)is that the 3-4 volts hasn't been high enough in gain to feed into an amp.When Acurus designed the DIA intergrated amps first the 100 watt DIA 100 and latter the remote operated DIA 150 they made the line stage passive and cranked up the input sensitivity of the input stage of the amp.The DIA 100 went for $1K whn new and can be found for $400-$500 used the DIA 150 for $800.They were manufactured by a company that also made military hardware sou the contruction is robust and topnotch.Check it out at audioreview.com.I owned both in my career an though have gone tubular i think they are top notch.

amen to the Rega Brio.. really great integ. amp to get started with. Used it in my second system and now as a backup amp if anything goes wrong.. upgraded to Mira in second sys. You can find used Rega Miras for 550--650 dollars like I did.

Thank you very much, for all the answers. Does anybody have any idea where an Acurus DIA could be found? Also, if anybody has anything for sale, let me know please.
One other idea: does the Marantz PM 7000 fit in this list anywhere?

Hi Roc doc. If the idea of a passive pre-amp interests you,
consider the Creek 4330/R. I personally haven't heard this model but others have spoken quite highly of this int. amp.
A few years back I had the Acurus A-100/RL-11 combination. I would investigate the build quality of the Acurus DIA int. amps. Really do consider the Jolida 301. The size of a shoe box but has a wonderful quality of sound. If the convenience of a remote control and headphone jack are important to you, the NAD 320 BEE for the $$$ would be a best buy, IMO. If these conveniences are not of importance
to you, carefully consider the Jolida 301.

If you can find a factory refurbished NAD C350 for $319 plus shipping (or maybe a slightly used one for the same amount), this would probably be a good match for your speakers. I owned one of these for a little while and actually preferred it over a few more expensive SS amps that I have owned or tried. Only reason I sold it was to go back to tube equipment that cost multiples of its price.