Amp for Gallo Reference 3a's?

A buddy is picking up a pair of the new 3a's.

We heard them with a Vectuer 80wpc SS integrated and the Audiomat Arpege 30wpc tubed intgegrated. Both sounded great until they ran out of steam.

We also hooked up the JVC ES1 100 wpc hybrid digital receiver. This thing really cranked out the volume (good bass control) but its tonality was off and the high end was a tad hard. Decent for $200, but not refined enough.

Now, the problem is that the guy only has $1000 to $2000 to drop on an amp. The preamp will be either a tubed DIY or something used SS that is cheap (PCA-2 or Marsh 2000).

My feeling is that these speakers need some decent power/current to play loud (he has a large room 15 x 15 x 10) and the amp has to control the woofers well otherwise they will get boomy. He will look at the Gallo bass amp or a sub next year. He mainly listens to rock.

Options (used) we are considering:
PS Audio HCA-2 (concerned about power limit?)
Bel Canto Evo4 GenII with Cap upgrade
Aragon 8008BB or 8002
Krell ????
Sunfire Signature 600II
Parasound 1500, 2200II, or 3500
McCormack DNA225
Odyssey Stereo Extreme or Monos
BAT VK-200
Threshold S/5000e (soundtage.com review is intriguing)

I would love to get him into a PASS X250.5 or a DNA500 or Plinius 250mkIV or Theta Dreadnaught or BAT VK-500 or Belles 350A or Gamut 200MkIII or Blue Circle BC26 or REDesigns LNPA-150 but he is pretty much stuck to his budget.

Any thoughts out there?

Thanks in advance!