Lightning quick DYNAMIC amp in the under $1000 range

smrex13 mentioned the Nuforce STA 200 above, and it is the amp tomic referred to, as me being a fan. If memory serves me, your Vandy 2 Cs allow for biwiring, as I know Richard Vandersteen believes very much in the concept, as do I and others like tomic. Have you biwired them with your current amp ? If not, I would try that 1st, before anything else. If you notice a difference, and if you do, hopefully for the better, you might consider passively biamping your Vandys with a pair of STA 200s, $ 499. each, from AA. Or maybe you may like your amp again, at least until you upgrade the preamp. Depending on how you go, I would suggest passive biamping, vertically, meaning both channels of one amp is dedicated to one speaker. Just a preference I have always preferred, when using a pair of the same amp. Although I have owned, and am familiar with Vandy, tomic is definitely the Vandy guru guy for sure, based on all of my readings and followings here on the Gon. Just some thoughts. Enjoy ! MrD.

I wonder if people aren't a little hung up on measurements. Most if not all modern amps measure well, not all of them sound very good though. Just trust your ears. 

Mccormack DNA-1 deluxe or gold 225 immediately comes to Mind...give one or both an audition. Steve McCormack's idea of utilizing his Distributed Node concept placed the power capacitors near each discrete transistor. Instead of two massively large capacitors, the smaller caps were thought to give better pace and lighting quick response. Admittedly, this was circa 2000, but hard to argue against after hearing this transient response. I think you'd all agree amplifiers in general represent a mature technology and some of the best ideas are time tested. Give one of these a listen....and thank me later:)

Keep your eye on Ebay for an Emotiva XPA-2  Gen 2 300w channel 8 ohm Amazing!  I have owned three.  I now use two XPR-2 600w per channel x4 for a total of 1200w  600 to each bass cab 600 to each mid high.

 @mrdecibel A Van Morrison quote comes to mind...

No guru, no method, no teacher....

hopefull LL I am just a passionate student of kaizen

i like your idea and thanks for the refresh on mental block I had on the amp

i strongly agree with the biwire approach, if OP needs to borrow a set of cables, I have a shotgun set of AQ type six with about ten K frequent flier miles as loaners...easy to have an open mind when investment in listening is a flat rate USPS $13 to get them to the next intrepid listener 

love your idea on vertical biamp, especially w identical transfer function amp