I demoed the Arcam A85 and found it underpowered for my speakers, which I believe are less demanding than yours. Too bad, because it's a really nice unit in terms of features. I would look to something with more current/power.
In general, I believe that in your price range, separates sound better and are a better value. I listened to every integrated in the $1000-$1500 price range before coming to this conclusion. It's hard to put a lot of good clean power in an integrated, and the units that do are expensive. I suggest you search here for threads on the integrated vs. separate issue -- there have been quite a few.
When I was in your situation, I bought a Classe CP-35 preamp and a Rotel 135WPC power amp, new for about $1300 (the preamp was a demo). Used, you could buy this pair for under $1000 (though local new/demo allows you to try in your home, which is important). This is not audio nirvana (I since upgraded to a Classe amp which gets closer) but sounded significantly better to me (imaging, clarity, bass) than the A85 -- and I demoed them head-to-head (with other equipment also) in my home. If you want to entertain separates, others will offer lots of good ideas as well. Listen to Maggie owners especially (seach on Maggie).
Search for tube vs. ss discussions -- there are quite a few out there already. I am not a tube guy. They do sound different, your preference will hinge in part on your choice in music. If you do go tubes conventional wisdom would say to use a tube preamp combined with an SS amp -- the latter to provide the power your speakers require.
