Vandersteen 3A sigs amp advice please

I've owned a pair of Vandy 3A Sig's for about 6 months, and have been using a Bryston 4B-ST amp with them. I got my Bryston new for $1650, and think it is a terrific combination with the speakers.

As one who is very familiar with the Vandersteen's and a former owner of the Audio Research SP-9 Mk III, a very high priority of mine would be to sell the SP-9. You will never get the best from the Vandersteens with that preamp. I don't know your budget but top of the line alternatives include CAT, Hovland, Ayre, Aesthetix. A good budget alternative would be Audible Illusions (Modulus 3 is better than 3A). As far as amps go, I have heard the 3A Signatures with Belles (not impressed), Bel Canto (not impressed), Ayre V1 (very good, but not fantastic) and Rogue Audio (not enough bass). Have heard the 3A's with Krell, Plinius SA-100 and Pass Aleph 4. I would match the 3A Signatures with the Alephs. The Aleph should be available for about $3000. They are warm, smooth, have great soundstage and detail, with terrific bottom end extension and very good top end extension. The Vandersteen's are so dynamic that they really don't need an explosive amplifier like the Plinius or the old Krell amps. The 3a Signatures I find to be less dynamic than the 3A's with a slightly improved top end over the 3A's, so I think it would be a very good match with the Aleph's which are a little laid back in the high end. If that is still not enough slam or high end detail, consider a Pass X-250, but in my opinion, it shouldn't be necessary since the Vandy's move a lot of air on their own. These amps will take your system far beyond the McCormack amps' capabilities. But, if I were you, I would work on the preamp first. If you a/b the SP-9 with any of my preamp suggestions you will never go back.

Sorry. I didn't mean to bad-mouth the entire McCormack DNA series. My experience is limited to DNA .5 Deluxe and DNA 1 Deluxe. I understand the DNA 2 is in a different class, but I haven't heard it. Even the .5 and 1 are very good amps for the money, but the Pass amps are clearly in a different class, IMO. And the Vandersteen's are a speaker which is capable of letting you hear the difference between the DNA .5 or 1 and either Aleph 2's (monoblock version of Aleph 4) or Aleph 4.

By the way, I have heard the DNA 125 (not with Vandy's) and didn't think it even came close to either DNA .5 or DNA 1 in sound quality. What do other people think?

Rayhall; I appreciate hearing of your experience and all your above posts re: DNA amps and 3A speakers. John_1 is also a big fan of the Alephs with the 3As, but I have to note that he liked the DNA1 Rev.A Gold even better with his 3As than the Aleph 2s. It's true that the DNA-2DX is a significant step up from the other DNAs, and it really sounds good with the 3As. But to keep up with the Joneses (Passes?), I've made plans to have my DNA2 upgraded to Rev. A Gold. Hope to post positive results one of these days. Cheers. Craig.