You hit the nail right on the head, you really need to sit down and have a listen and make your own conclusions. The internet has a lot of wonderful information but it's hard to separate the fluff from reality. I spend way too much time online reading up and researching all of the gear but when it's time to make a major purchase out with the demo disc and into the real world.
The Trends is a great little amp if you have an efficient speaker but if you don't it's useless. I'm using one on my computer and it does a great job in that environment or a hotel room but you'd have to have a really high efficiency speaker to get it working well in a living room type environment. Not to go on and on but this is where component matching and system synergy come into play. A bright speaker and a bright solid state amp are going to wear on the ears after a period of time for sure.
Regarding tubes, my only real issue with the hybrid integrated(ss amp, tube preamp) that I have is that it took forever to get a quiet, non-microphonic pair of tubes for it. They shouldn't need to be replaced too often but finding ones that weren't noisy was a hassle for me.
Something else that didn't come to mind earlier is that Marantz have an integrated that's not too outrageously priced and would likely fit the bill. PM-7001, $650 Canadian new. Seems to be well liked overall.
Topic: Best 2-channel integrated amplifier for under $1000? (Read 18056 times)