Help amp for Vandersteen 3A sig w/ Anthem pre 2L

Bob, Don't be confused. If anyone has the electronics knowledge to be able to understand Richard, you do. Please call him and then translate the major points in English for the rest of us! All I need to know is that what he says is fact. I will not disobey, ever again! BTW, Krell amps, and many others are stable to 1 ohm or less. I don't think it is as difficult as it is expensive! Vandersteen impedance values do not swing wildly at different frequencies. This is what causes speakers to be typed "difficult to drive". Vandersteens do not fall into this category. Please call Richard, you will learn more in 15 minutes with this man than...but I bet he spends an hour with you!!!Z.

Bob, I would never poke fun at you. I feel I am the big winner so far in our short history. My shop sounds better than most folks' living rooms! I don't think an amp cares about phase angle, but I do. That is why I have Vandersteen speakers, they are BOTH time and phase correct. Richard has yelled at me too, but I'm still hoping you will give us a translation after talking to him about bi-amping his speakers with multi-channel amps. He told me NOT to do it, then explained why, and it was way over my head, electronicly speaking. Curious minds want to know!

I have been told by dealers that an Aragon 8008BB will work very well on the 3As'. This is the amp I currently have, though it is driving a pair of Mirage M3si speakers. I am not wealthy and at the time, the Aragon was the only amp I could audition that was good enough to live with. Not at the top of my list, but I could afford it. Later, Krell came out with the KAV 250A, but it was discontinued before I was in a position to take a serious look at it (I have a Krell KRC-3 preamp).

More recently, I was auditioning a pair of Vandersteen 3A Signatures. I really liked them, but in the shop they were just lacking some punch. At firt, they were using a Krell Showcase processor and amp (multi-channel). They swapped out the pre to a Conrad Johnson Premier 18LS, and the amp to a McCormack DNA-225. The front end was an Ayre CX-7 (what I use at home). Cabling was MIT PCs and Straight Wire ICs and SCs. The sound improved I thought, but still lacking in punch and dynamics. The midbass and bass were also less prominent than what I am used to at home or what other systems at that shop do (same music).

For comparison, they hooked up a pair of Aerial Acoutics (Model 7?) to the same system, but the midbass was quite unacceptable. At the time, I decided that the overall frequency balance of the Vandies was probably more correct than many speakers, but the lack of punch and dynamics in the shop was too large a negative. The dealer said that the McCormacks tend to have a lighter sound and that my Aragon would probably be a better match. However, they did not offer to let me try the demo pair at home (to see if the dynamics were better on my system and room), so I did not purchase them.

I'm using the Channel Islands D200's on my 3A Sigs and prefer it to the McCormacks I had for years. While the D200's are a bit above your budget, the D100's are within it. Less power but comparable sound. IMHO, it's a great match.