at the 500$ mark, integrated amps are your best bet.
iota sa3(499$) 50wpc
vista spark(349$) 20wpc
zen dac(130$)+ parasound zamp v3(350$) 50wpc
edit: there are more integrated amp, but most of them have more linear, clean sounds. cambridge audio has an offering around the price range as well, but its technically inferior to the rest mentioned. but is a fun integrated.
This is an interesting option. Might have to keep an eye on it. So if I run optical audio out from the TV would I be able to control volume with the TV remote or would I need to use the remote that comes with whatever unit I buy? The nice thing about AVRs is I can use HDMI Arc and never have to think about it.
Me too movement 
. I want to have a 2ch setup desguised as a tv room. Like what zeos got in his day room but with room treatment and floorstanders. Should i keep the speaker wires to a min and all the gear in between the towers? Would there be anything to gain buying an intagrated and running an external DAC through the amps CD input?
Honestly I couldn’t tell you, I ended up going a different way, I use optical out from the TV, but the TV in my living room, is a last generation Panasonic Plasma, so it’s not exactly state of the art.
I also use a harmony remote, so…
do not buy an integrated if you are buying a dac. thats wasting $$ on 2 dacs.
the denon(or whatever else) would control the volume. optical sends the signal to the integrated and bypasses the tv.
I will, at some point in the far future, get myself a Dolby Atmos integrated receiver, but until then, I would like to find the best options for a dedicated power amp/dac combo for stereo passive speakers for this price (or slightly higher). I believe I can get a great quality combo for this price, but I might be wrong - such combos might be much more expensive, because it’s for speakers? I hope for a great step up from the SMSL AD18 that matches similar quality of $500 headphone amps/dacs.
P.S. Of course, recommendations for receivers are welcome as well 
Youre right, think i will go separates.
this is what i use on my tv with kef q150’s. i enjoy it very much and i rarely watch tv, mostly use it for listening to music with the q150’s.
edit: you can also get it on sale for 150$. real world note: if your going for concert levels, the amp on this thing will fall short.
you can also use the pre out on the smsl into a power amp and use the dac you are used to and like.
One thing concerns me, which Zeos said - receivers have shitty dacs and amps inside, at least compared to dedicated dacs/amps that are probably cheaper (sacrificing the receiver features). That’s why I am looking for such, but I will still get a 7.1 receiver for movies, just in the future. For now, I need great sound quality dac/amp for music only. Correct me if I’m wrong though.
On the movie side the word is using the preouts to run separate amps is the why to go for a lower cost alternative to a prepro.
saw on the youtubes for integrated if you care about hi-res music above 192/24 adding external DAC using denon PMA-800NE analog mode shuts off the digital section to run it as a straight power amp. Yamahas A-S line integrated version is CD amp direct mode (only on the A-S701). you get a detachable power cord with the 701. There is also a “CD pure direct” on all models in the yamaha line. By doing this might cut off output signal to subs (think it does) on both brands rca out. That can be solved by choosing a sub with hi-level in. FQ response on the yamaha CD pure direct is 10hz-100khz. Sorry all this is over budget. goes back to a $100 dac and $400 parasound amp which does have 40hz hipass filter.
I was thinking more about SMSL DA-9, or hooking up an SMSL VMV A1 to my Element 2 to extend it for passive speakers (although I don’t need another headphone out, and Bluetooth is very welcome). This is relatively in my price range and it looks it will give me exceptional sound quality. But not sure they will be enough to power most passive speakers/towers.
Now these are relatively new and I don’t know much other devices, that’s why I am asking about it.
I have the S8 stack (SU-8 DAC, DA-8S amp) and I love it. I got both for around $470.00 US. From what I can gather the S-9 stack is a step up from the S-8 stack, especially on the DAC side. That is, if you care about MQA, which I don’t. The S-9 stack is running about $750.00 US. The DA-9 amp uses the same great Infineon amplifier and Japanese volume circuitry that the S-8 uses, so it should sound great. For the price it’s hard to beat. Like I said, I have been very happy with my S-8 duo. Hope that helps.
Yes it helps, thanks! I also really would appreciate a sub output as well. Not sure whether I will use it, but it will be pain to not have it when needed though. So that makes the DA-9 amp as a top choice for now. I can even use it on my JDS Element 2, right?
Yessir, I believe you could go from the DAC to the Element to the DA-9 or the amp of your choice via RCA connection. I wouldn’t want to lose the big volume control either!
I hear you on the Sub out. The DA-8 doesn’t have one either. But I think the work around for that would be to get a sub that has speaker outs on it, so you can go from the amp to the sub and then out to the speakers. There is some good info out there on how to do that. But I hear you, the integrated sub out would be a nice thing to have.
It may be way over my budget now, and for just an amp, but… can Schiit Aegir power those speakers nicely? I’m not even sure if the SVS towers are highly efficient for that, because the Aegir has only 20W per channel, but of course Aegir could sound way better than the DA-9 for triple the price?
I don’t really know much about Schiit equipment or the SVS towers, so I can’t really say for sure if that is a good match. But I would think that despite the seemingly low output numbers, the Aegir would drive them OK. Seems to me though that most of the reviews I see involving SVS tower speakers also involve amps driving them that spec out at 100W per channel or more. That said, that is a lot of money for something you may or may not be happy with. Sure doesn’t fit my use case. And you still can’t get one now anyhow, which is just absurd.
the aegir will power them, im sure well, just not super loud. but you can double them up to get more juice down the road. its a fine amp, but better as a mono block then stereo.
Yeah, I just can’t figure out the matching specs and maths between these towers and Aegir. Reviewers mention that just 1 Aegir is better for highly efficient speakers, so I was wondering if the SVS ultra towers are such, by specs? 2 Aegir’s are for more inefficient speakers, they say.