jay--i spent a lot of time listening to both the shearwaters and herons powered by tubes in your price range. i was most impressed by cj's mv55 and the (comprable?) vtl offering (i think it was the st85). i ended up going with the cj. although i found hte vtl faster, i found the cj warmer and more musical. that said, also have a listen to audio research's classic 60. i would stay away from integrateds. there's nothing wrong with them, however, i think you may end up getting better sound and better value going first for an amp and later adding a pre (especially since you are able to control your volume directly through your cd player. i assume, of course, that source switching is not currently important to you?). if you have a chance, compare and contrast cj's mv55/pv10a with cj's cav50. you'll hear a difference. i prefered the mv55/pv10 separates, i'm not sure what you'll prefer. but in any case there is a difference. good luck.
<2K amp for Shearwaters
Now that I have a nice pair of speakers,... I want tubes. I've set my budget, and am trying to decide beween: 1. an integrated- like the Cary sli80, VTL IT85, CJ,. 2. Use the volume on my Marantz CD63 to control the level into a power amp- VTL ST85, or many used pieces I've noticed on Audiogon.. or go with some inexpensive mono blocks, ss or used tube. I mean, I think I really want tube power, I love the sound, the few times I've listened. and the speaker maker highly reccommends tube power for his product. Any advice from Shearwater owners (89dB) or anybody else is appreciated. Jay