I would like to share my experience, having been in a similar situation to yourself not so long ago. Having read a bit about the t-amps I firstly plumped for a Trends 10.1 which costs $150 here in Canada.
I then started looking about for a pair of used speakers which would be easily driven by the t-amp, and after a couple of weeks managed to get a set of DCM timeframe 6.0 floorstanding speakers on craigslist for $200. These speakers have been out of production for about ten years or so, but luckily the ones I picked up had been warehoused unopened for all that time, so they are immaculate. Sensitivity is 94db and the little amp can drive them as loud as my ears can tolerate with terrific resolution. I doubt that powered speakers can have the authority delivered by floorstanders, but on that I could be wrong, having little experience in the matter.
For an outlay of $350 I now have a system that really blows me away, moreso with every listen, so my recommendation would be to get a t-amp, whichever version you feel you can afford, and then look for a reasonably sensitive set of speakers second-hand. In fact thinking about it may be wiser to look for the speakers first and then spend what is left on the amp. With a little bit of patience and judgement you may get a lot of musical enjoyment for not very much.