I am using Plinius 9200 with Memento (as well as Usher BE-718). As good as 9200 is, I will vote for tube amps. My main system is tube and I can not recreate the tube magic even with Memento. You can always start with something cheap like Cary or Rogue.
If you must use solid state, I also agree you should consider Ayre and Plinius. Ayre is probably more transparent and detail, but Plinius is probably more musical.
You don't need to sacrifice sound with small budget, you can always pick up older Forte 4A + 40 combo or McCormack DNA-1 & one of their passive line stage. Either combo should give you near state of the art sound for around $1k. In fact, I am willing to bet they sound better than Plinius or Ayre integrated. I do own the Forte combo and they give my SF Line 3SE + BAT 75SE a run for the money. I have never compared side by side my 9200 to the Forte because my systems are in 3 different countries, but I did heard Forte in my main system and I was speechless.
If you must use solid state, I also agree you should consider Ayre and Plinius. Ayre is probably more transparent and detail, but Plinius is probably more musical.
You don't need to sacrifice sound with small budget, you can always pick up older Forte 4A + 40 combo or McCormack DNA-1 & one of their passive line stage. Either combo should give you near state of the art sound for around $1k. In fact, I am willing to bet they sound better than Plinius or Ayre integrated. I do own the Forte combo and they give my SF Line 3SE + BAT 75SE a run for the money. I have never compared side by side my 9200 to the Forte because my systems are in 3 different countries, but I did heard Forte in my main system and I was speechless.