Amp for Vandersteen 2ci


Hi all, I am planning on upgrading my amp for my Vandersteen 2ci. I am looking for an amp with a little more power and with a budget at 2k. I currently have the B&K ST2140 amp with a Rotel RC-970BX preamp which I went to RC-995 preamp with balanced output. Their are a few amp I was thinking in no particular order:

Classe CA-200

Threshold Audio S-300

Parasound Halo A21

Krell KAV 250a

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

highend64

Showing 3 responses by soix

From what I’ve read, the 21 is a significant step up over the 23, and the 21+ is a meaningful upgrade over the 21. I’d guess you can get a 21+ used for not all that much more than a 21, so that’s where I’d go without a doubt FWIW.

Looking at your RC-995 preamp, the balanced output is in name only BTW because it’s clearly not a fully-balanced preamp so paying up for an amp with balanced inputs really doesn’t get you anything (except higher cost).  Frankly, I don’t think the RC-995 is doing you any favors sonically so I’d seriously consider selling it and buying a good integrated.  Here are a couple good examples FWIW…

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649933972-hegel-h190/

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisb2666-plinius-hautonga-solid-state

Just another potential avenue to ponder, and best of luck in your search.