Vandersteen 3A and DENON 5803; COMPATIBLE?

Not sure why you'd even consider that combo. 3A deserves better

The 170w 5803 will be able to handle them, no problem. I occasionally ran my older 125w Denon 1025 with my van 3aSigs and it was a good sounding system with a surprising amount of bass. The higher quality home theater receivers do sound pretty good, especially if the speaker is a little more gentle natured. The 5803 likely has a stout power supply designed to source all seven channels. If you are running only two channels this power supply should be able to drive the speakers with more authority.

If you ever want to put an amplifier on them the McCormack (disclaimer I have one for sale) amplifiers are a classic combination. Those really bring out the bass and are a match made in heaven. You can pick those up used for $600-900. See if it is possible for the 5803 to act as a preamp for the two main output channels while acting as a preamp and amp for the remaining surround channels. That might be a nice upgrade path as would an adcom 750 preamp which has a home theater bypass input (your denon would be the volume control for this input).

I second the motion. Not sure why you would even consider running the 3a sigs with a receiver. Unless you plan to upgrade at some point.

The McCormack will be like night and day compared to the Denon. Of all the recivers out there I think Denon is the most warm sounding. The McCormack ( from my personal experience ) will " jump out there and get you " Not so with Denon.

If you do decide to hook up a amp to your Denon, try CJ. But now I geuss we are of the orirginal subject...... You didn't ask about hooking a amp to your Denon, did you?

Moetbrut, they are compatible in the sense that neither one will cause any harm to the other. They may not be the best match sonic-wise but I doubt it is the worst either. I have a Denon 5800 (which has the same amp section as the 5803) which I used to drive my Soliloquy 6.5s with and the sound was not that bad. A little bright, maybe, but that could have been addressed by using a little darker sounding speaker cable than the Kimber Bifocal XLs I had. Acoustic Zen Satori would probably have worked fairly well. The Vandersteen 3A has a similar tonal signature to the Soliloquy 6.5 so it could probably be made to sound decent with the 5803.

I was seeking a little bit better sound quality than the 5800 could give me so I added a Rowland Model 10, which was driven from the preamp outputs of the Denon. This was a better match tonally, plus the Rowland is an all around cleaner sounding amp than the Denon. The Rowland is one of the better SS amps available, and certainly produced a worthwhile improvement, but it was over twice the cost of the Denon. I auditioned many cheaper amps before I bought the Rowland and didn't think they offered a significant enough increase in sound quality over the Denon to warrant the expense. The amps in the Denon are comparable in sound quality to separate amps in the $1000 to $2000 range. Don't believe the receiver-haters that say any separate amp will be any improvement over the internal amps in the Denon. It simply isn't true. You may achieve a different sound, but it won't necessarily be a better one. In my experience I had to spend quite a bit before I thought the sound quality increase was worth the trouble.

If you are considering the 3A/5803 combination because you want a primarily home theater setup I think you will be fine. If you want to use it for primarily music then you will probably be happier with some good quality seperates. I'd look at Rowland, Pass, and Ayre for starters. If you want to consider tubes, I've heard the Audio Research VSi55 integrated amp with the 3As and it was a very nice match.

Nighthawk,

I forgot there are people who have home entertainment systems, and don't have enough space for a seperate 2 channel system. I am one those that prefers a 2 channel system. My home entertainment system is a 20 Sharp tv.

I guess it's a matter of priorities...

I only recomended CJ becuase it is warm, and reminds me of Denon. Cj is definitely a closer match than the plug that was put in for the " for sale McMcormack " But as I stated before. the oririginal question asked nothing about hooking up amp to the Denon. Only " will Vandersteen work with Denon? " Yes it will but I wouldn't do it. But then it's his money, his situation. I have done worse in my day.

Yes it will, but I think one can do much better.