Your intentions are really great. FM sounds really nice when played in 2 channel stereo using a good amp and speaker combo.
The quality of a Tuner is normally judged based on its SQ, Sensitivity and low Signal-noise ratio. If your tuner is sensitive and well odained, it will pick up any FM station with decent signal strength, filter out inteference/noise and give you a pleasant sound output.
Options for tuners are many, however pre-used mass-market Japanese stand-alone tuners are the only ones likely to fit your budget. Some typical types of Tuners you may be able to find in the 1.5k to 2.5k range are Sony, Technics, Sanyo, Akai, Sansui, Marantz, Denon, etc. If you stretch your budget a bit you can probably look at high quality tuners like NAD 402 or 412 in the 4.5k to 7k range depending on the condition.
I have used the mass market Japanese tuners and found them to be very ordinary, in comparision with my NAD 402 which is one of the legends among world class tuners (1995 What-Hifi Tuner of the Year award, beating Tuners costing upto 3 times more). In my opinion, the NADs are very sensitive (just need a small 1 foot piece of wire as an antenna for local FM stations), have brilliant filtering and have superb sound quality. If the station plays good music which is well balanced and less coloured, you will not be able to tell the difference between your CD player and Tuner playing.
