You can get away with a less powerful of a tube amplifier since they use a high pass filter between the amp/preamp. Because of this, the amplifier is almmost entirely freed of supplying power for bass. A few years back I got along just fine with a 100 watt ARC vt100 mark II amplifier. No shortage of power whatsoever.
I've heard that John Rutan at Audio Connection runs the 5's with the Ayre V-1 or the Rogue Zeus. www.audioconnect.com He's been a Vandersteen dealer since the beginning of time and knows them very well. He's helped me with my Vandersteens quite a few times. I've heard Quicksilver V4's are also a great match.
Disclaimer: I am a Rogue dealer.
I've heard that John Rutan at Audio Connection runs the 5's with the Ayre V-1 or the Rogue Zeus. www.audioconnect.com He's been a Vandersteen dealer since the beginning of time and knows them very well. He's helped me with my Vandersteens quite a few times. I've heard Quicksilver V4's are also a great match.
Disclaimer: I am a Rogue dealer.