I'm extremely happy with my new Boulder 1161. Believe this amp - or it's bigger brothers - paired with the Aurender and Magico is a fairly popular combination. Pre + amp probably put it above your budget, but perhaps not by a ton, especially if you can get lucky to find at least one used. Or the 866 integrated is also really, really good.
Have owned or demo'd amps from Ayre, Aavik, T+A, Enleum, Hegel, Luxman, and the 1161 was head and shoulders above, as far as my tastes go.
If you're near Florida, or want a reason to go there, Mike at Suncoast could easily demo the 1161 with Magico.