Amp for Vandersteens 2ce sig 2's


If you had the choice...What amp would you mate with an Audible Illusions 3B preamp into Vandersteen 2ce Sig2's?
Vacuum tube? Solid state? Any comments are welcome. Thank you... All the best...
exocet954
Don't be fooled by the price of Vandersteen 2Ce Sigs. It has been my experience Vandersteen speakers will continue to improve as the associated equipment is upgraded. Audio Research tube or solid state is a good match with Vandersteens as well as Quicksilver Audio amplifiers.
The only Vandy's I like is 1c for about a year before I sold them. Other Vandy's can only play orchestral music and very bad for rock or instrumentals that I mainly listen to.
While 3,4,5 series impressed me on orchestral music capabilities(especially with brass), 2Ce Sigs did not impress me on any kind of music at all with any kind of amplification: slow and undefined bass, the drum sounds longer than it should, piano sounds very dull... The good part of this speaker is tonality, detail. There are lots of folks that didn't like them which makes a good used bargain for those who likes.
I don't agree with Marakanetz. The Vande 2ce is an excellant speaker that will mate well with almost any decently powered amplifier (depending on how loud you plan to play them, and how large the room is that you are trying to fill). I do not own them personally but have auditioned them several times in the past and have heard them in a friends home as well. If you are not trying to "rock the house down" I would recommend choosing the highest quality of amplification you can afford (up to $3500 is a good budget)rather than a number of watts. For example a high quality 50 wpc amp rather than a lower quality 250 w/chl amp. Rrog has given you good advice. Lots of others too if you don't care for those. If instead, you actually are trying to "rock the house down" a Crown Macro reference may be what you are looking for.

I think Plinius is a dandy combination with the 2Ce Signatures.

Pretty much, I just enjoy the great sound and never worry about tweaking.
Ayre and Vandersteen play very well together. I've read that ARC is another good match. I agree with Mcfarland that you should focus on quality, not quantity, of watts. The Sig IIs are *really* good. IMO, you'd have to spend >$10K to get something signficantly better. They desrve to be partnered with quality electronics.