As for suggestions for other amps, Doc Bottlehead's Paramour has been getting a lot of attention on this board lately (you can do a search for it), but that's still in the same price range as the Zen. Personally, I've been looking at some of the offerings from Rogue Audio lately. They seem to be no-nonsense products that have plenty of power and still do all the audiophile stuff right. Haven't actually heard them yet, so I can't really say much more about them. Other than that, I'd think just about any low to medium-powered tube amp in your desired price range would probably work well.

Mike