Favorite integrated amp?

If you like the "British sound", and I do, go with the Exposure line, very, very nice stuff...for a warmer, less detailed amp, I just bought a Classic integrated made in China, that is marvelous...

Yup: Arcams or the Audio Refinement Complete Integrated as a bargain.

I'd recommend a Unison Research Unico(new or used), which is great for jazz, and which should work well with the speakers you mentioned.

If you want tubes, I love the Cary SLI-80. It's near the top of your budget. Switchable b/w 40w and 80w. Very easy to bias and sounds great. Looks great too! I used it with a Cary CD-308 and MM deCapo i's speakers. Plenty of power and great bass. Overall an excellent amp for the money. I did sell it to try out the world of SETs but sometimes I still miss the extra power and tight bass of the Cary. I now have a Vaic 300B SE, 15w SET integrated and though the bass isn't as tight the virtues of SET's midrange sing clearly in this integrated. Imaging is superb but needs v.good cables to sound it's best. Same CD and speakers.

Thank you all for your suggestions so far.

Stuartbranson...I`d like to know which cables you`ve selected to run with your set amp.

Also, I can`t seem to find any reviews of the belles 250i on-line. Maybe somebody can point me in that direction.