Best Bang 4 the $ Intergrated Amp

I ran Silverline Minuets with an old HK receiver and an even older Rega Brio. They sounded great with both. I bet a newer Brio with the Preludes would be excellent. The NAD C326BEE is another very good budget integrated. For under $500 (used for the Rega, new for the NAD), those are the ones I'd be looking at.

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