You have a lot of great recommendations. Sonograph SA 250, Dynaco St 70 and Complete would be my choices. Interesting mix that would depend on the rest of the system. Integrateds have come a long way and there is more you can do with them. Go after one that has main in and pre out and then upgrade as time and money allow. Counterpoint is good too. Now here is a diferent option. Look for a Adcom 5200 or 5300, which can be had for 2-300 and send it to Stan Warren at Supermods for one of his make overs. If you do not want to go this route, the above suggestions are great. Select 3-4 and see if you can listen to them or get a consensus. Good luck.
Best used amp for around 500
I'm am desperately trying to upgrade from a Denon AVR-3300 receiver. Looking for a stereo amp for the fronts. I'm entertaining the idea of a five channel amp, but I don't yet have DVD-Audio or SACD, and money is an issue. The receiver is fine for movies, but for music...well, it won't do. I'm currently running Acoustic Energy Aegis 3's for the fronts - silk dome tweets, pretty warm, laid back sound. Any suggestions?