Power amp around $3000 for C-J Classic preamp

Again, thank you all for your advice and input.
Tvad, you're correct that that's the direction I'm headed, but it seems to me I should still be able to match an amp to the Vandys and C-J preamp. I've wanted to own both the 3As and a C-J preamp for years (C-J even more so), for a variety of reasons. The Classic fits the bill perfectly and even if "unsound," I don't want to discard the idea of owning the Classic just because as a generally accepted rule, I should start with the end. We have the speakers, we have the preamp, now let's choose an amp! I realize the $3000 budged might put some limitation on the choice, but that should still get me something decent, shouldn't it?

CJ doesn't list the output impedance specification of the Classic preamp, so matching with an amplifier becomes more complicated. You should call CJ to get an answer to this important question.

You might be best off with a CJ amp to avoid the matching guesswork.

Whether the CJ amp is the best choice for the speakers you choose is another question.

Good luck.

Tvad, I did notice that as well, which I think is disingenuous on the part of C-J (or any other company that doesn't provide essential specifications for their equipment).
The C-J power amps tend to be very expensive, offer rather low wattage for the price and the top models are unfortunately beyond my reach. Seems the mf-2500a might be an exception, but is no longer in production.
As much as I'd like to own the Classic, I'd perhaps be willing to look elsewhere for a preamp, but I just don't see anything below $2000 that would seriously compete with the Classic. I'd love to own a ModWright preamp, for example, but they cost too much for my budget. If anyone has sugestions, I'd love to hear them. Thanks.

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.