Best Preamp to Pair with Acurus A-250 and Vandersteen 3 Signature Speakers

in my recollection (i had both an acurus dia100 as well as an a250 power amp back in the day) acurus is classic early-gen solid state... raw power without any finesse... shrill lean sizzly gritty - i had totem 1 speakers at the time and the combo made my ears bleed

op - i am assuming your speakers are the vandy 3a signatures, right?

i would suggest getting a used odyssey or van alstine solid state amplifier ... for not too much more money they will sound much much better than the old acurus - or get a modern integrated with roughly 100 wpc if that can fit in your budget

Let’s start with this — what improvements are you looking for and what sound characteristics are most important to you, and are you open to maybe selling the Acurus and go with an integrated stereo amp?  Personally, I’d be hesitant to pair a $5000 preamp with your amp whereas a $5000 integrated may well give you significant improvements in both areas.  Food for thought.  

I owned 3A-SIG for ten years…. there are many competently engineered amplifiers that drive them well. The Odyssey is certainly one and an excellent value. Anything Nelson Pass made in 100 wpc range. I used a Mac, Ayre, Quicksilvers, Aesthetix…and Threshold. The Ayre and Aesthetix are zero or low NFB designs which pair well w Vandersteens. My buddy in Atlanta runs his with a hybrid Music Reference amp. 

The 3 is really a beast, while it’s very full range, it rewards an amp with grip and control. 

For $5K you can get excellent amp and preamp…both….

If I were you, hold off on selling that Acurus amp.

Team it up with a tubed preamp, that has a low output impedance.