Solid State Integrated in 1500- 1800 range ?

I have owned the Simaudio Moon I-5 and Electrocompaniet ECI-3 and liked them both. Just as Woodman mentioned, the I-5 sounds stronger than 70wpc, but so does the ECI-3. However, I don't know how either would fair with planars. The I-5 has the more neutral presentation, and is also more transparent. The ECI-3 is a bit smoother. But I should add that they sound very similar, and this really surprised me. If you get a chance to audition the Electrocomapniet, try to listen to the ECI-4 which is their 120wpc integrated.

The market for integrateds has never been better. There are many many great amps out there. Enjoy!!

Primare A30 integrated could be found discounted/demo etc. for that money. It should work extremly well with 2.3s

Might try Classe Cap 150, or YBA though the Passion is probably out of your price range.

I have a Redgum RGi120s integrated amplifier, and have been impressed with it since day one. I checked out Primare, Roksan, Rega, NAD, Arcam, Plinius, Creek, etc when purchasing my amp. I am extremely happy with what the Redgum brings to my system(Soliloquy 6.3, Arcam cd92). The retail is 2k, but a demo could be had for about 1500. One word of advise, the pictures don't do this unit justice, the wood faceplate is stunning.

The Plinius 8150/8200 is a good choice. I love my 8150. It drives B&W 803s with ease. Used $1600-1800.