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.
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.