Finally stepping into the hobby after 30 years of watching from the sidelines

I have a lot of posts to catch up on here :) 

Regardless of your opinions, I do appreciate the input.  I haven't researched audio gear for about 10 years, so I have a lot of catching up to do.  
@hifiman5 I agree 100%.  Audiophiles are very passionate about this hobby and rightfully so.  We all hear things differently and you all have put a LOT of time and money into your passion.  We truly appreciate you all taking the time to guide us along the way.  User reviews are my main source for information.  I'm not sure if the audio industry has gone the way of the automotive industry, but I know that at times, reviewers can be swayed to say certain things.  This isn't a dig at reviewers, I'm just very skeptical when it comes to magazines and websites that need to keep companies happy so that they can sell advertising to stay in business.  

Keep in mind that I haven't had the opportunity to audition a lot of gear yet.  I'm incredibly lucky that RMAF is happening when we are looking to dive into this.  We are going to be able to hear a LOT of gear over the 3 days and also be able to talk to a lot of people in the industry face to face.  

The amount of time that I have been dedicating to this decision is kind of sick :-)  Thankfully my wife is understanding and supportive of me trying to make the right decision for our investment.  We have been looking into companies like Nottingham, Vienna, Zu, Audion, Melody, Line Magnetic, and many MANY more.  We are still 100% committed to tubes and that will not change.  However, seeing as we have been unable to audition the Vandys that we are interested in, we are open to changing our towers.  This is the main thing we want to take away from RMAF and we are hoping that we might be able to buy a set of demos off the company that we decide to go with seeing as how we are only 8 blocks away from the event and can spare them from lugging the gear home :-)

One thing I can tell you is that we will not be going with Primaluna.  Their approach to touting their gear has completely turned us off on the company.  Pointing out another companies shortcomings is not a good way to promote your product.  

Sorry I am coming to this thread a bit late.  Congrats on your decision to dive deep into this world . I just wanted to say that if you haven't chosen an amp yet take a look at the Parasound A21 at $2500.  It has outlived the test of time and continue to impress without the need for upgrades / new models.  If your budget allows, the Parasound JC-1 monoblocks at $5000 each (before discounts) would be a step up. Great thing about these is that they will most likely outlive you and unless you are looking for all class A amplification, there would be no reason to upgrade.  I have owned 2 A21 amps for about 2 years now and they continue to impress with whatever I throw at them.  They can be bridged to mono but I find that it will degrade the sound quality.  

@audioman2015 The parasound amps are actually a product I have auditioned.  I was able to hear them with the Focal Aria 948s.  There was definitely no shortage of power and they drove them beautifully.  However, we are not a fan of the Focals so we didn't hear the potential of the amp as we would have liked too.  In addition, we are only interested in tube amps for this system.  

The thing is there is nothing inherently tube amp friendly about those Vandersteens that I can see from the specs. In fact they would appear to not be a good match at all to a tube amp. They have impedance down to 4 ohms and 86db efficiency rating. Stereophile review probably shows impedance and phase curves for more detail. I would take a look at those.

Many (actually most) very good speakers are not. It’s not a crime. Just a challenge.

I would go in anticipating that most tube amps within most peoples budget will deliver significantly compromised results overall with those Vandersteens.

With most any tube amp, I would go in anticipating at some point needing to add powered subs with proper crossover to offload most of the work (the lowest frequencies) from the Vandersteens. That should produce top notch results if done well.

Or if supplementing the Vandys with subs to make the tube amps work better with them does not sound appealing, then I would recommend using a class D power amp approach. An amp like the new Peachtree Nova 300 for example would be the kind of thing I would consider to get the best of both worlds (tube and SS sound) and also the most out of the Vandys. Rogue Pharoah hybrid integrated amp another example. I have heard the Rogue and it is definitely a big hitting top performer (from a company known mostly for its tube amps).

There is a reason tube amp makers like Rogue offer hybrid amps that use Class D amp technology. It enables their products to perform better with most speakers out there without sacrificing the sonic attributes tube amp lovers seek.

This is the approach I have taken with my OHM Walsh speakers, which are similar to the Vandys in terms of their power needs to perform best, and the results are spectacular and largely put any practical yearning for more tubes to rest.

Parasound mentioned above would seem to be another solid choice. Many others as well. Lots of clean power and current is what you need from an amp for those Vandersteens. That is the forte of SS amps, not tube amps.

@mapman I am in 100% agreement with the fact that tubes might not be the best choice for the Vandys and our budget. They are definitely not the most efficient speakers. This is why we have become more open minded about the speaker choice as we are 100% committed to running tubes. (Sorry to flip flop every one)

Since our space is so large, we have begun to consider running or eventually upgrading to 1 or even 2 subs. This will probably happen down the line. So this opens up a new dilemma with my amp choice...eventually getting signal to the subs.