I and my father are fan of AR drivers. My father has a pair of AR 3a and we buy a new Swiss made speaker about 7 years ago which use AR's drivers. I use to power the AR 3a with Audio Innovation 500 integrated amplifier (25W class A 4 EL34s). According to my personal experience, solid state could be a better fit for AR. However, it could be fine to go with a tube amplifier if the woofers were powered.
BTW, I also curious about the internet dealer you are talking about.
Jack