Power amp around $3000 for C-J Classic preamp

I'm not sure the c-j Classic would have been the best match for the Vandersteens anyway.

John,

Well intended, yes. Misguided? Probably. Your velvet hammer can actually lead to enlightenment for me and perhaps others in the long run if we know what the actual numbers are for the input impedance's for each of the solid state amps I suggested:

-Cambridge 840W = 38-68 kOhms

-Vincent SP-T100 = 48 kOhms

-Odyssey Stratos Mono Extreme = 22 kOhms

-Musical Fidelity M6PRX = 50 kOhms

-Bryston 3B-SST2 = 20-50 kOhms

-McCormack DNA-250 = ???100kOhms???

Balanced inputs are lower of the two impedance numbers where two appear.

So if what you say about the MF and Cambridge having "Lowish input imp" holds for the others, then all of these amps except perhaps the McCormack have input impedance's that are too low to match well with the cj Classic. I can't find a value for the relatively new McCormack DNA-250 anywhere, but the DNA-225 was 100 kOhms, so I assume, perhaps wrongly, that they are the same. (side note, Spearit Sound has a refurbished DNA-250 available for $3000 right now.)

To help with understanding these relationships in general, it would be very helpful to know what the output impedance value is for the cj preamp to know what you do not consider a good match for these fairly typical solid state amplifiers.

For comparison, the output impedance of the matching Musical Fidelity preamp is 47 Ohms. The output for the matching Cambridge preamp is 100 Ohms, while Odyssey preamps are listed as 70 Ohms (solid state) or "low" (tube). So all are fairly low.

In contrast, the PrimaLuna Prologue Three tube preamp is a whopping 3.5 kOhms, while their matching mono block tube amps have a fairly high input impedance of 100 kOhms. If the cj is considered such a tough match with many of the solid state amps listed above, then it must also have a fairly high output impedance - more similar to that of the PrimaLuna?

Enough said.

OK, well, one more thing. If you are considering dumping the cj Classic idea, then I would suggest pairing any of the amps listed above with their matching preamps. I.E. Cambridge 840E (solid state), Vincent SAT-1 (tube), Odyssey Candela (tube), or the Bryston BP-6 (solid state). These systems could all drive the Vandys and the preamps are nearly guaranteed to match well with the same name amplifier.

A completely different approach would be to pair the Primaluna ProLogue Three preamp with the ProLogue Seven mono blocks. All tube system, but self biasing and a lot of tube power on hand to drive the 3A's.

If you decided on Vandersteen 3As and you want good sound forget about CJ and go with Audio Research. There is always plenty of used Audio Research available and once you've heard Audio Research with Vandersteens you will have no regrets.

I called C-J and the Classic's output impedance is 200 Ohms. If, as general rule, the amp's input impedance should be at least 10 times the output impedance of the preamp, all of the amps mentioned in the thread should work just fine with the Classic. Even though the Classic has a higher impedance than most solid solid state preamps, any amp with impedance of more then 2k Ohms would comply with this rule. The lowest impedance of 22k Ohms for the Odyssey is still over 100 times higher than impedance of the Classic. How is that "lowish"?