Best Bang 4 the $ Intergrated Amp

Primare.

Perhaps the Creek 5350 SE that I own work for him. It is solid state. The other options include hydrid. I prefer the SS approach. Too many options in that price range without experimentations. It is unlikely you will find "the one" without dating a few.

For SS bang for the buck, I've been partial to some of the NAD offerings for the past several years (I second the 326BEE, above, at around $400 used). Another alternative that I like is the Music Hall Mambo ($500-650 used), a warmish SS integrated with a built-in DAC. Or, for a little more clarity and authority, try the Musical Fidelity A3.2cr ($700-850 used). The Onkyo A-9555 gets a lot of buzz at around $400 NEW (maybe $300 used), but I haven't listened to one yet.

For tubes, the Jolida 302b ($650-750 used) is hard to beat, and it carries 45 WPC.

According to Stereophile's measurements, the Preludes measured 87 db efficient with a minimum impedance of a little over 4 ohms, so I would assume that either of the amps I mentioned above should drive them adequately.

Michael

What is his budget? I assume he would buy used and could wait for something to come up for sale.

Hard core bang for the buck... Audio Refinement Complete. This is surprisingly good and cheap. 50 watts to 8 & 90 watts to 4. In the same league in sound quality, but a bit more power is Musical fidelity A3cr or 3.2. A clear step up, still without being crazy would be a Coda.