Integrated amp decision, oh the headache

NAD, or a (new or used) Musical Fidelity. Also try Creek. And PLEASE go and listen to a used Jolida. When you hear the magic of tubes. You may not have to upgrade for a LONG time.

I have a Jolida 502 in my bedroom and an NAD 317 in my office. Both have great price performance and are avialable used for your price range. The Jolida sound marvelous retubed. The factory Chinese tubes do not do the design justice. A proper set of tubes is between $100-$200 based on your selections.

You are quite correct about the Chinese tubes. European (Russian, Czech, or Yugo) tubes are a significant upgrade, really opening things up, and transforming them into new amps(of a much higher level). I also recommend a 202 or 302, which are EL-34 based(and cheaper), if this is enough power. The 502 and 801 use 6550(or you can go with KT-88, KT-90, or EVEN EL-34). EL-34's are much more musical(IMHO), and "classic" tube. EL-34's are also half the price(or less) than the 6550/KT88/KT90.

The Acurus DIA 100 (mark I and Mark II) used to receive rave reviews in Stereophile. Those sell for around $500. I've heard other acurus equipment and thought it sounded pretty good. You might even be able to buy an old adcom amp and preamp in that price range. The Adcom 555 mk2 was a nice amp. Those go for $300, and a matching preamp should be 250-300.

I jut noticed that you have horn speakers. VERY efficient, meaning you could get away with the 60Watt adcom 535. One of my friends had that combination and it was pretty nice. Those are only 150-200 used.