You mention Emotiva and Rotel. Rotel is nice, but I think there are better values out there. I used to own Emotiva and it was ok. I wouldn't tell people not to buy Emotiva gear, but it's not nearly as good as the fan base thinks it is. What bothers me more than anything is that none of their "neutral" amps seem to sound the same. Doesn't that seem weird for "neutral" amps? Plus they can't seem to make problem free preamps and processors and then pretend like there are no issues with them. Whatever...
Bang for the buck, the Parasound 2100 is a steal and a fine piece of gear for the money. Flawless functionality and feature rich with a true to the source sound, it's a fantastic budget preamp. I have audio friends that have owned very expensive preamps and they own 2100s and really like them. I also love the fully discrete remote for programming my universal remote.
I paired my 2100 with a Parasound 2250 2-channel amp delivering 385wpc into 4ohms and all sounds very good. I run subwoofer for music and the 2100 brings it all together nicely and the home theater bypass mode is a must in my book. I like to think of my setup as a dedicated 2-channel setup that is home theater capable. I love it!
I will note that I move from my Emotiva gear straight to the Parasound gear. I have no regrets at all and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
I too am a tube fan and I will never have a setup without at least one piece of gear with a tube in it. Currently I run a Music Hall tube DAC that is just fantastic. The stage width and depth is wider and deeper than anything else I've owned and the 3D sound stage gives great separation detail. Tubes are the greatest thing I've done for my sound right behind my Salk speakers. Too bad I waited so long to try tubes.
I haven't heard any AVA gear, but if it had a true HT-bypass, I'd be trying it. The other stuff that looks worth giving a long look is Odyssey audio.
Good luck with your search!
P.S. I forgot to mention that none of this maters without a great source or DAC. For DACs, my two budget favorites are my Music Hall DAC 25.2 and the PS Audio DLIII.