1 - I haven't particularly liked the sound with the flea power amps I have heard, although folks I respect say they do (however, I have not heard it on the same equipment as they). As to More power, they sound quite nice on some of the Fisher stuff I used to own and I hear pretty food things about the Scott 299c and D with them. The tubes I liked were at about 13 - 20 wpc and well below your $2,000 bogey. They definitely sound 'warmer' with tubes. The mids and highs are not so distinctly there for certain things - that can be good or bad based on your perspective.

2 - They need some help in bass reproduction, so a supplemental woofer (sub) comes in handy. They roll off pretty quick after 70hz. Without a sub - lots of folks prefer the Cornwalls for just this reason. Some tube amps (like the vintage Scotts mentioned above) have a center channel that can be used for a powered sub.

3 - I have had Heresy speakers somewhere around me for 29 years. I prefer them 1 - 2 feet above my head and very near the corners. I then angle and adjust to get a respectfully wide sweet spot (I guess you could say my 'soundstage'). They can be directional and may be I use the corners for the rflections. All that seems to be a bit wrong in the logic department, but what can I say other than they really seem to shine there for me (and I have tried them in many set ups).

4 - I like them with good reasonably powered SS - the HK740 in my office is very good with them (and was fairly cheap when I picked it up). As an aside - the 740 is darn good with the 2 PI and they may end up in the next rotation on this reciever.

5 - I really tried to stay away from the sounstage discussion, but I'll dive in. You may have hit the point - getting use to the sound could take a bit (after 29 years I wouldn't know anymore) and let's you relax. I do know that you can get a reasonably good feel of being surrounded by sound with good recordings. There is a big however here, there are quite a few larger all horn speakers that will do a better job (as well as the right powered - gasp - Dynaudios, etc.), but I believe many (if not most) folks will like the limited compromises you make for this speaker when the find how little damage there is to the pocketbook.

Probably more than you wanted - all is IMHO. I do like the speaker and in the right sized room, right equipment and a good source recording - you should have a good experience.

Henry