Integrated brand choice -- Simaudio, Hegel or Mark Levinson?

Not long ago I had a good long demo of the SimAudio 340iX & the Hegel 590 driving Harbeth M40.2 speakers in a dedicated room..I was NOT impressed with either.The Simaudio WAYYY too much plastic for so much $ & the headphone circuit was HORRIBLE!The SimAudio sound is a LONG WAYYY from the beautifully voiced original i5...The Hegel was ok but sounded dry to me,no life,no soul..A week later a friend lent me his Sugden A21Signature(base model 23wpc.)& WOW,WHAT A WONDERFUL presentation.EVERYTHING I love about Class A SE tubes in a smaller,lighter package..Needless to say I’m now converted away from tubes to pure Class A Solid State...You owe it yourself to at least add Sugden & Pass Labs to the shortlist...

The question remains as to how much of a family resemblance there is between the 340 and the 600i v2, which is more in the OP's price bracket.

depends on what sound you want

focals can be a lil zippy up top (but maybe you like zippy, dunno)

hegel is pretty neutral, slightly warm, veeerrrryyyy smooth may be a good match, levinson/krell will be generally brighter leaner sounding

sim to me isn't in the same league, maybe i am wrong

consider also belles 

What sound and performance characteristics are you looking for?

Had the 340ix at one point and was good with the sound, but I'm looking for the next bracket up. 

Not really interested in tubes...prefer the simplicity of solid state.
Looking for something that is neutral-ish and just gets out of the way while providing sufficient power to drive what I have now (and leaves room for something that needs a bit more).  The Focals can lean on the brighter side, but that doesn't bother me.