McCormack and Vandersteen are a great match, enjoy!
Yes, I've seen this statement many times in my research/readings.
Now that I have the power/pre set up, next is to make sure I'm using the right sounding cables. I'm currently using Mogami W3082 I got at Redco and Mogami 2549 as interconnects. John Rutan suggested Audioquest CV-4 speaker cable and AQ Red River for interconnects. I found (and bought) some used CV-4 and I installed it into my system last night. Frankly, I'm not sure if I heard a difference. But, John said to give it some playing time before judging.