What separates should I use for my vandersteen 1c?

I once had 1c's hooked up to Conrad Johnson pre and power tube gear. They sounded absolutely wonferful! Lots of used CJ components here on Audiogon.

Good luck!

If you don't understand and optimize your room acoustics spending 5 K on amplification can be of little help in getting the best out of your speakers.

That said both Macintosh and Van Alstine sound good with
Vandies.

The best pre-amp under $2,500 is the Doge 8 from Pacific Valve at around $1,500. There is a broad range of amplifiers for your budget. You might opt for a solid state amp, as the Doge 8 is a tubed unit and the solid state amp (adequately powered) probably would give you better bass control.

Greg

Underscore CJ electronics with Vandersteen speakers. One of those few but ideal matches.

With all due respect to the other posters, I'm not as big a fan of the Vandy's with c-j, especially c-j tube amps. IMHO, the Vandy's as great a value as they, are are bit bloated in the bass, not the last word in dynamics, and a bit reticent. c-j tubes tend to have the same characteristics. Now if you love that, and can't get enough, so be it. But, if your trying to balance qualities, both of these fine products are probably better suited for use with other gear than with each other. Just my 2 cents, YMMV.