Best Amp for Vandy 3A's under 3000 Used?

Richard told me face to face that he personally likes and recommends ARC tube products for use with his speakers. Being a man of his word, I saw him demo the 5's at Hi-Fi 99 with an all ARC "glow in the dark" system. Then again, that was a whole 2+ years ago, so his preferences may have changed. As you know, models and personal prferences can change quite a bit in that amount of time.

If in doubt, try giving Richard a call. Tell him what you currently have, what you want to spend and see where he goes from there. I have no doubt that he will recommend SOMETHING as he is not shy about his likes / dislikes : ) Sean
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I have had Vandersteens for 15 years, upgraded from 2c's all the way up to Vandersteen 5. Had 3A sigs for 3 years.
Best deal you can get to power this is:

ARC VT130, can get one for $1800.
Couple with ARC LS2, about 1000.
This would be killer. If you want better, go to Ref 1 preamp.

If you only want solid state amp, use PSE V's monoblock. Preamp, use Audible Illusions M3A.

Either combination above will give you excellent musicality.

good luck.

Frank

My sincere thanks to all of you who responded and the detailed replies in particular. Happy Holidays.

Rick

I would buy a hot rod mccormack dna amp. A dna-1 or higher. I found the dna1 was far and away the best amp for the vandersteen 3a Sigs.

If you go for a tube amp, I suggest you go for an off-brand mega power tube amp. I found that my 160W sonic frontiers sfm-160's sounded better with the van 3's than the 100w arc vt100. You really need some juice to make these speakers sing.

I would go solid state with these - they are already warm sounding.

If you don't already own the Vandersteens don't do it! I have been recomending them to people for over 15 years but not any more! Buy from people who will treat you right if you have aquestion,or make damn sure that you have good dealer support. Don't call and talk to "Dick"! Buy some speakers from nice people like Magnepan who will answer you questions and treat you like a human being!