Ah I had an old pair of Cerwin Vega AT-12s in college. I paired them with a vintage Kenwood Tube receiver. It probably didn't have more then 20watts but I loved the sound and could play louder then anything in my dorm. After blasting it for a semester and a half the tweeter developed some nasty distortion and needed replacing so after that I kept the sound levels more modest but man did it sound good cranked up. While I think a good SS amp will work fine, I think you should try a tube integrated and get that fat, bouncy, lifelike tube sound that will probably make most of the other amps you mentioned sound a little dull in comparison.
With a budget of $1,500 I'd get the Willsenton R8. It should be amazing with those Cerwins and if you end up upgrading to the Heresy one day, check out Steve Huff's R8 review on Youtube. He pairs the R8 with some Heresy IVs.
With a budget of $1,500 I'd get the Willsenton R8. It should be amazing with those Cerwins and if you end up upgrading to the Heresy one day, check out Steve Huff's R8 review on Youtube. He pairs the R8 with some Heresy IVs.