Vandersteen 3A sigs amp advice please

I tend to agree with Fredzip80 based on my experience with Vandersteens as both an owner and having heard various set-up through the years. As John_1 states you may lose a bit in the bass department, read slam, but you gain it in the midrange, read presence. I always felt that of all the ss amps I have heard with the Vandersteen 2 and 3 series including Threshold, Krell, Acurus, Levinson and McCormick the last at an audio show, tubes are better. So things aren't perfect at audio shows but Richard Vandersteen was there and it should have sounded much better than it did. I wasn't alone in what I was hearing. The sound was as ho hum as I've heard these speakers sound. I always felt there was a synergistic match with ARC products in a variety of different set-ups. Heard the Vandy 3a sigs with ARC VT100Mk2 and LS 15 during an extensive audition (2 hours) and there wasn't tooo much missing in the bass. Could feel the air brush across my face on the Shelly Manne "Poinciana" track. But then again I'm biased towards tubes in general and ARC in particular. I keep on hearing about how wonderful these speakers sound with McCormick. My experience with that amp was limited to about 30 minutes so other views may hold greater value. You have some feedback, now you need to listen for yourself Fsabella.

When I had my Vandersteen 3A sigs, I used two M-L 331's in a bi-amp mode. That worked very well.

Thanks very much to all of you for the advice and feedback. I'm looking forward to this project!

I've owned a pair of Vandy 3A Sig's for about 6 months, and have been using a Bryston 4B-ST amp with them. I got my Bryston new for $1650, and think it is a terrific combination with the speakers.

As one who is very familiar with the Vandersteen's and a former owner of the Audio Research SP-9 Mk III, a very high priority of mine would be to sell the SP-9. You will never get the best from the Vandersteens with that preamp. I don't know your budget but top of the line alternatives include CAT, Hovland, Ayre, Aesthetix. A good budget alternative would be Audible Illusions (Modulus 3 is better than 3A). As far as amps go, I have heard the 3A Signatures with Belles (not impressed), Bel Canto (not impressed), Ayre V1 (very good, but not fantastic) and Rogue Audio (not enough bass). Have heard the 3A's with Krell, Plinius SA-100 and Pass Aleph 4. I would match the 3A Signatures with the Alephs. The Aleph should be available for about $3000. They are warm, smooth, have great soundstage and detail, with terrific bottom end extension and very good top end extension. The Vandersteen's are so dynamic that they really don't need an explosive amplifier like the Plinius or the old Krell amps. The 3a Signatures I find to be less dynamic than the 3A's with a slightly improved top end over the 3A's, so I think it would be a very good match with the Aleph's which are a little laid back in the high end. If that is still not enough slam or high end detail, consider a Pass X-250, but in my opinion, it shouldn't be necessary since the Vandy's move a lot of air on their own. These amps will take your system far beyond the McCormack amps' capabilities. But, if I were you, I would work on the preamp first. If you a/b the SP-9 with any of my preamp suggestions you will never go back.