Tubed Integrated/$1500/New or Used

For under half your budget you can get a used Antique Sound Labs AQ1001DT. I have had one for almost 2 years (a record for me). Reliable, sounds great with no mods (but does benefit from good tubes), and drives most speakers easily. I 'upgraded' to the Audiomat Arpege, but still preferred the ASL AQ1001DT, and sold the Arpege. Currently I am finding it preferrable to a Plinius 9200.

I'll third the PrimaLuna. My Prologue Two just arrived, and for the $ it is hard to beat. A great, simple integrated for the tube newbee, and right in his price range NEW! Incredible sound! You could even add a pair of tubes in that price and play around with 'rolling'.

Aronov LS960I is another choice, sounding "real" and musical at the same time, accompanied by marvelous bass detail, texture, and extension. No adjustments, or requirement for tweaking. But, any unit one purchases can benefit from proper choice of power cord, underlying support decision, and power directly from the wall.
Alternative tube choices ("tube rolling") can sometimes enhance tubeaholic listening pleasure, but which replacement tubes are the "best" for the unit your friend ends up choosing can be a separate subject for debate.

Thanks to all for your feedback.
I'll let you know what he chooses and how it sounds.
It'll be interesting to compare the sonics of his integrated to my separates.
Thanks again!

Modified Jolida 102; el84 makes around 15 to 20 watts and sounds very good. Hard to beat for around 575 new.

The Audiomat Arpege/Prelude is a spectacular unit and in another class but over twice the money used. I've listened to these extensively in a reference system; it hung right in there with an original Kondo Ongaku fully updated with new capacitors and wiring.