I have to take exception to Lafish's statement on the alleged limitations of tubed amplifiers: "...good for simple music like vocal. No good for pop music." C'mon, now - this is ridiculous as a blanket assertion, and easily disproved if you drop by my house sometime.
Julie, without recommending tubes over SS or vice-versa, I would heartily endorse Kotta's sentiment that you don't yet know what your speakers are capable of, considering what you're driving them with now. No, I am not familiar with your Axioms, but they are apparently a pretty well regarded speaker in their catagory, and from your description of the rest of your system I would hazard a guess that they are the strongest link in the chain you've got at present.
I think your plan to check out a good integrated amp would make sense on your stated budget. If you want recommendations that are meaningful, you should probably tell us about your sonic and listening preferences, including your tastes in both music and playback volume, as well as the size of your listening room.
Julie, without recommending tubes over SS or vice-versa, I would heartily endorse Kotta's sentiment that you don't yet know what your speakers are capable of, considering what you're driving them with now. No, I am not familiar with your Axioms, but they are apparently a pretty well regarded speaker in their catagory, and from your description of the rest of your system I would hazard a guess that they are the strongest link in the chain you've got at present.
I think your plan to check out a good integrated amp would make sense on your stated budget. If you want recommendations that are meaningful, you should probably tell us about your sonic and listening preferences, including your tastes in both music and playback volume, as well as the size of your listening room.