Best bang for buck integrated amp for $500

I have moved on from Rega IO, i dont think im jumping the gun.  Way harder than i thought it would be.  Looking at other options.

Former owner of many compact amps. Here is my compact amp ranking.

1. Burson Funk with Vivid OP amp upgrade - Great bass, warmth, and clarity. This amp is a unicorn.
2. Rega Brio R - Exciting forward sound, unrefined treble, high noise floor, good tone...enjoyable. 
3. Emotiva Bass X 100 - Great build and power for the money. Average across the board for sound...pretty neutral sounding. Brio R has better tone and is just more engaging.   
4. Audioengine N22 - Good mids and pleasant treble. weak bass. warmer timbre. sound lacks dimension, body, and bite.
5. Parasound Zamp V.3 - Tonally cool. Felt like much less than 45 watts. Bad harmonics. 
6. Ice Power 125ASX2 - Sounded like bad Class D. Great bass and bass grip. Mids and treble were very unnatural. thin, cool, dry sounding amp. Would be good for home theatre. 

could it be the wistling tea kettles themselves?

I took a look at the Burson Funk and if one needed an amp for primarily headphones but wanted speaker capability it could be a good option. 45/35 watts at 4/8 ohms respectively, while my amp is about 60/35 watts for speakers but hasn’t the output for headsets as the Burson. It does add preouts and a MM input, as well as a basic USB, plus two RCA inputs for less.

The Burson took a price hike to 799? A review stated priced from $544, that’s quite a recent hike unless I’m missing something?

Why did you buy two okay amps instead of spending the total on one good amp?