Video Asylum

Posted by MikeTz (A) on January 30, 2005 at 19:41:45

In Reply to: Vandersteen HT Setup posted by Mi-Foodie on January 27, 2005 at 16:34:35:

As you probably already know, the Vandersteen speakers are all time aligned using first order crossovers and therefore are inherently inefficient. To make them sound their best you ought to consider an amp that can produce significant power and low distortion. Tube units sound great but to get lots of power it can be expensive. Richard Vandersteen uses Audio Research amplifiers with his 5As.

I have used Bryston and McCormack solid state amps with my Vandersteen speakers over the years and they have both performed well. I favor the Bryston amps because of their 20 year no qestions asked warranty.

Another option would be to integrate a powered Vandersteen 2Wq subwoofer with the 3As thereby reducing the power requirements on your amp. Now you can start thinking tubes.