@Mjcmt, Sorry so late to respond. Been away from the goN for too long. As far as solid-state integrateds under the $1500ish price point, I still firmly believe the PMA-2000IVR is one of the best out there. It's very solidly built, very musical, and is surprisingly dynamic for the price ($1200 new, retail price). My ONLY complaint is that some of the connections on the rear panel are a little too close together, particularly the analog inputs. The PMA is no longer in production, but if you can find a used one in good shape, I'd recommend you try it out. I bought mine used from an AudiogoN member in 2009 for about $850, and haven't regretted it.
I'm in the process of making some changes/upgrades to the system, and will be posting them sometime in the next couple months when completed.