I can only speak on the I30 and it is one of my favorite amps. I too listen to a lot of old rock, punk, blues, jazz and lo fi indie. The I30 has a really lush warm sound that makes even poor recordings sound fantastic. It sounds much bigger and more powerful than a lot of other amps I’ve owned. During covid I got on an integrated amp kick and must of tried 10-15 amps in the 1-2k price range. I think I paid about $350 for it from a seller on another audio site because it had a wonky input selector. At the time I had a Kinki Studio and the Sim I3.3. I preferred it over the Kinki and was right up there with the Simaudio. The sound is very similar to my much more expensive Audia Flight. For the price a used Primare is a heck of deal. I gave mine to my daughter. Hegel is another great suggestion but as you said, it’s price prohibitive as is Simaudio unless you can get lucky and find an I5.
Best of luck, looking forward to hearing about your decision.
