MAC & VSA Synergy?

i'm the "friend" who suggests CIA. Only because I want to hear them.
:)

I guess without getting too deep, it is hard for me to take the CIA amps seriously. An in-home audition would be best but I would need to do a little more research on them before I did anything else. I guess I am looking for a company with more time in the market, a proven track record of sorts.

How about the Velluto. This looks like a extremely well made Class D amplifier! Sometimes stepping off the beaten path can lead you to bliss.I haven't heard this one yet.But have played with a few different types. This sucker is made well from everything I can see. One thing I've learned about this type of amplifier. Speaker loads don't seem to slow them down the least bit.
If there were a low wattage version of it ..hell I might jump on one myself.:-)

Good luck with the hunt!

I guess without getting too deep, it is hard for me to take the CIA amps seriously. An in-home audition would be best but I would need to do a little more research on them before I did anything else. I guess I am looking for a company with more time in the market, a proven track record of sorts.

Honestly, this comment makes it hard for me to take your question seriously and it reveals your lack of research into Channel Islands Audio and the owner, Dusty Vawter. After you do some homework, you might look back at your last post and wish you had edited it. Even doing a five second search of the Audiogon threads would probably return enough information to make you realize what I say is true. How much effort have you put forth to do some investigation?

If a company's history and longevity is one of your primary criteria, then consider a Bryston 4B SST ($2000 on the used market). You will not find a company with better longevity or customer service track record than Bryston.

However, The 4B SST was not as sweet on my VR4 HSE loudspeakers as the CI Audio D100 monos.

PS - Dusty voices the D100 and D200 monos on Von Schweikert VR4 Jr loudspeakers, among others in the Von Schweikert line.

I would say McIntosh beats Bryston in the "company history and longevity" category since they have been around for 52 years. The CIA do seem interesting - I would be tempted to give them a try just to see what they are like.