which budget integrated amp Rotel, NAD or other

One of the best integrated within $1.5k budget for me was used Krell KAV300i. It might be more expencive, but often available used and obviously better for Usher than above mentioned Nads, Rotels and Regas.

I nominate the Onkyo A-9555. It puts out 85/170 wpc into 8/4 ohms, so it's a good match to your requirements and your speakers. It's very quiet, fast, and transparent. I personally prefer it over the Rega integrateds and many of the other British integrateds which are either too forward in the midrange, too wimpy in the bass, or both. It requires a good 100 hrs to break in, but transforms into a smooth, yet detailed, dynamic amp with very low noise floor. It has so much current it replaced a 150wpc high current power amp with no perceptible drop in weight, but a significant gain in transparency and speed without turning edgy.

The built-in MM phono preamp is pretty good too. It doesn't have the greatest slam, but it's very musical and excels at inner detail.

The speaker terminals are those weird things like the 1st gen. Cambridge Azur series had. It accepts only bare wire or bananas, but it's worth it. If you shop around you can pick up this $799 amp for under $500. Try Amazon and B&H.

I nominate the NEW Onkyo A-5VL. It just came out in July 2009. It has phono input MM/MC, a built-in DAC, Burr-Brown 192KHZ/24 bits and optical/coaxial digital inputs. I've only seen pictures at onkyousa.com. Check it out, Maybe a good match for your speakers. Ohh, retail price is $699.

08-06-09: Rodm3878
I nominate the NEW Onkyo A-5VL. It just came out in July 2009. It has phono input MM/MC, a built-in DAC, Burr-Brown 192KHZ/24 bits and optical/coaxial digital inputs. I've only seen pictures at onkyousa.com. Check it out, Maybe a good match for your speakers. Ohh, retail price is $699.

Interesting. Other than a USB input and pre-outs, it sort of steps into the price/performance void left by the departed Peachtree Decco.

according to onkyo's website, the new a-5vl only puts out 2 x 40w--a higher powered integrated would give you more flexibility. if you want a real budget play, i'd look at the late 80s/early 90s integra and yamaha units, both of which are very neutral, have good phono stages and are easily available under $200. for a more modern piece, i'm partial to arcam, which is both very good values used and to my ears, sounds more "refined" and less forward than nad.