Amp/Pre-Amp Selection for Vandersteen 5A's in HT

Cary pre/pro with ARC amps sounds fantastic with Vandersteens! What about looking into a couple of ARC SD135 for surrounds... using the VT200's for the fronts only. Another alternative would be to use one of Cary's 5-channel amps for drive surrounds and center, but I would be a bit concerned over the blend between center and mains then... you would really need to try this out in your home settings.

Although the SC-07 is a decent receiver, I'm pretty certain that's what is holding you back right now...

buy the ARC, great match with the awesome Vandy's, and use the HT bypass and use a nice Denon (3810?) or higher level Onkyo for the HT. They will drive the center and rear channels without any problem and sound very good. You will never approach the performance of the ARC with any surround processor, so just hybrid it, Stereo and HT. The new recievers are great for processing all of the HD formats and switching the video without degridation.

also, you won't need additional amps for the rear and center. Try this first before you spend a ton more on a surround processor and seperate amps.

If you want to go crazy high end on the HT too, I would look at either an Anthem D2v or the Cary 11a and 11v together. Amps are you choice, I love the Parasound Halo a51 for HT.

Good luck.