Best integrated to drive vandersteen 2c's


A while back I got my hands on an acurus a150. I've been living with a nad receiver (7175pe and then a 7250pe after the 7175 died) and the vandersteens for the last 15 years. I figured, those are quality components, what the heck. I hooked the acurus up on a whim, using the nad preamp section. Revelation. Those thumpy low frequency sounds are acutally musical instuments! So thats what you audiophile guys have been going on about.

I'm trying not to catch the disease (ok, hobby, if you prefer; I can't really afford the disease in the current business climate, anyway). The acurus is nice (to my ears), but the upper registers are a bit harsh. So I'm thinking a nice mid-level integrated will satisfy this new hunger without doing too much damage. I would guess I need about 100 watts for those speakers. I'm looking in the sub-$1,000 (used) range; a Musical Fidelity A300/A3.5 or a Creek 5350SE, maybe a Jolida 1501. A Plinius 8200, Bel Canto eVo 2i or SimAudio I-5 seem a bit out of reach financially right now. Any opinions?
jeffnolan
If seperates are a viable option, I strongly reccommend you consider that route. For your Vandy 2's, a used McCormack amp and passive pre would only add one pair of interconnects, and will probably offer better sound, for roughly the same cost as an integrated. Furthermore, it will offer more options down the road.
I was originally looking for separates, and came very close to pulling the trigger on a Mccormack ald-1 ($525 on agon) about the time I got interested in integrated amps. There were a couple of others that I probably would have bought if someone hadn't gotten there first. I was poking around the bottlehead website today. The idea of pairing a tube pre with a solid state amp makes sense.
Depending on the amp, that might be a good option too. I was just trying to keep it simple. The more options you'r open too, the greater the opportunity for satisfaction.
What did you finally settle on?

I have a pair of 2Cs and I'm getting the most puzzling results...