Need help with upgrade path

Have you considered selling your VK-300X, putting that money with what you have now and buying a Karan KA I-180 integrated? It is balanced and has one balanced input. If you want more "ooomph" and everything else, the Karan will take control of your speakers and you will simply be amazed at what you hear!

Chuck

Of the amps you mentioned I would go for the VK-500.

Sometimes one amp will do a better job than another for controling a speaker. Try bi-wiring, better still bi-amping.

QUOTE FROM POSITIVE FEEDBACK REVIEW "When I fired up my system after these changes, what I heard was more to my liking. Bi-wiring opened up the sound across the board. The highs were more airy and transparent, the midrange much more musical and engaging. The bass was thunderous and articulate."

About 10 years ago I owned a pair of Genesis Vs. It was the prototype for speakers like the VR4s. Alas, the Vs were a one box design, but included a bass amp. The mid/tweeters demanded a potent amp. I replaced the Vs with a pair of Reference 3A monitors. Before I sold the Vs, I moved them to the front wall and ran just the subs. That was my first revelation about bass loading in a room.

Fortunately, you could actually separate your satellites and put them on stands, then play with moving the bass cabinets around your room. A good place to start is 3-5 feet behind the satellites. Then move them side to side until you find the sweet spot.

The Parasound JC-1s are very good amps. I owned them for three years. You will need some power from your wall to get them perform at there best. I used dedicated 20 amps lines (one for each amp) But think with the easier to drive VS speakers one 30amp or two 15amp lines would be plenty. They also run very hot. More so than the pure class A Krells I use now.
I replaced the JC-1s with the Ayre V-1XE. I enjoyed the tone, sweetness, and full sound of this amp more than the JC-1s. It will not need as much power to excel and is not quite as hot. I used both of these amps with a BAT VK-31SE preamp and they seemed well matched together.