I have the SP-16 with Vandersteen 3A Sigs, Red Dragon M-500 Mono Block Amps. Speakers are 8 1/2 feet apart and I sit about 10 feet away. Soundstage is wonderful. Imaging is first rate. The SP-16 is a very nice preamp and can be tuned with different tubes in the positions nearest the inputs. You should be fine with that amp/pre combination and experimenting with speaker placement, seating position and room treatment.
ARC SP16 vs SP8
hay ive got an sp16 preamp to go with my vs110 amp. I was wondering if an sp8 would be an upgrade in both linstage and phono stage? have you heard both? How would you describe the 8. I find the 16 to be neutral but im not crazy about it's stereo imaging, almost to mono feeling for me. could maby upgrading my sumiko bluepoint 2 on my pro ject 2 xperience do the trick?