Intergrated Amp with VR4jrs

Both the Krell and the Musical Fidelity would be great choices. They are getting great reviews and word of mouth. Sorry, but I have not heard the KAV400i but did listen at length to the KAV300. It was enjoyable and from posts of users the 400 seems to have taken everything good about the 300 and kicked it up a notch.

The Musical Fidelity gear is great IMHO. I demoed the Tri-Vista integrated and SACD player and it was fantastic. The A5 is said to have captured most of the performance of the Tri-Vista.

Another integrated you might want to check out is the NAD Master Series M3

And keeping with the simple theme the Krell, MF and NAD have great source components that would work well with each of them.

Tube gear sounds great but there is plenty of ss gear that sounds great also. I went from an all tube SET set up to ss and I don't feel I'm missing anything. Depending on the gear tube and ss just sound a little different fom each other and a lot of tube and ss gear sound the same. It least it does within my budget constraints, IMHO.

Good luck with your search.

Cheers

Excuse my tubeness, but if I may ...
I did not have your speakers but did have the VR-2's hooked up to my Opera Audio Consonance a120 Hybrid Integrated (tube pre/ solid-state power) and they sounded fantastic. I, like you, did not want to mess with tubes. However, many hybrids these days, ones properly designed, offer quite long tube life expectancies - some in the 10,000 hrs!
I auditioned the Krell KAV400xi and Musical Fidelity A5 (with my current speakers: EgglestonWorks Fontaines) and I did not like the sound of either one compared to my a120 integrated. My a120 had a much better balanced overall sound for all music. It was far more pleasant to listen to, without giving up detail. And that is what you get with a good hybrid integrated. (By the way, these sell used for around $650.) I have yet to fuss with the tube at all.

Cford, I can understand where you're coming from. In my case, I'm not sure if it's driven by age(50-something)or other factors, but I'm looking to simplify my life by simplifying several of my hobies.

I went from a Stratos bassboat with a high H.P. outboard, 24 volt trolling motor, 3 batteries, and enough electronics to cause a 'brownout' in most small cities to a no-fuss, no-muss 18' aluminum fishing boat with one depth finder, and a simple 12 volt trolling motor. I enjoy fishing more now than I had in years because I get to actually DO MORE FISHING because I'm spending 90% less time on maintenance and "getting ready" to go fishing.

I'm in the process of doing the same with updating my audio system. I've made my decisions on everything but the integrated. I've auditioned Cambridge, Classe, Krell 400xi, Primare, and Lavardin (IS and IT). To my ears, the Primare and Lavardin gave me more of what I was looking for. Unfortunately, the Lavardins do not offer a remote control. A real pain in the butt having to get up and walk across the room everytime you want to adjust the volume. I intend to also audition the YBA and the Plinius. From what I've already heard, I know I can find the sound I'm looking for without the inconvenience of tubes. No knock to those who like tubes ....been there done that.

Kind of like the Ferrari vs. Corvette analogy. At this point in my life I would be happy with 95% of the performance (and only 20% of the maintenance, and 30% of the cost) that the Corvette would offer.