Need advice on amp to drive Vandersteen 2Cs

I never much cared for tubes running Vandy's till I heard the more recent Audio Research amps on the bigger Vandy's, truly sublime. I haven't heard them, but would imagine VTL's working very well. Still the Livin was looking to spend "about a grand". At that price point, I think ss is probably the way to go and I wouldn't feel compromised by not going tubes regardless.

I use a Plinius 8200 MKII with my 2CE Signatures, and I think it's a fantastic match.

Just a word of caution - apparently the 8200 MK I (the earliest version) was not all that great - especially in the phono stage.

Plinus was reported to have made a quite a lot of changes for the better when creating the 8200 MKII. Pretty sure they paid a lot of attention to making a much better phono stage.

I listen to vinyl a lot too, and it's very satisfying through the Plinius.

If you were to go the route of separates, I think McCormack is a no-brainer.

For most folks, I think SS is the way to go with VS, McCormack is obviously a good choice. Beyond that if you wnat to go tubes, you need some power, and Quciksilver V4 would be my choice. Ask Richard what he thinks. You might find that QS is his tubes amp of choice. Or high powered ARC.

There are a pair of TAD 125s (Solid State but, sound tubey) for less than a grand out there. That is what I ran my 2ce's when I had them. I now run my 3s. Read the reviews.

For what it's worth, I am EXTREMELY happy with the way my Rogue Audio Cronus drives my Vandersteen 1C's. The synergy is absolutely perfect, sort of like the amp and spreakers were made for each other. The Cronus' built-in MM phono stage is a great match for my Rega P3-24/Exact 2 analog front end. Happy Listening !